Hey so I’ve seen you posting the supernatural/stranger things parallels and damn I didn’t realize there were so many. So thank you for pointing those out!! also I’m kind of curious do you think the st main characters would get along with spn main characters? Idk what seasons to base this off of but overall thinking about the main characters journeys. Like do you think the party/teens/adults from st would overall like team free will? Damn this is so open ended so like hopefully you don’t get confused by it! If you do just tell me to narrow it down or something! Have a great day/night!

Hmmm this is such an interesting question that could be approached in so many different ways. Short answer is I think they would like each other in a Self-Recognition Through The Other way. These guys are all massive dorks at heart and it's all about loving your (found) family and breaking cycles and challenging constructions of deviation/monstrosity/otherness. Long version is:

- A concept: ca 1985-87 John Winchester rolls into Hawkins with baby Sam and Dean in tow to investigate the Happenings. He tries to talk to Hopper the same way Murray did with similar results. Joyce/Hopper somehow find out that he's basically dragging his 2 small children along with him on a monster hunt and leaving them alone for extended periods and report him to the appropriate authorities. Joyce Byers in danger of adopting more children. (On that note I think Hopper and Bobby would make excellent friends. Hopper is basically if you combined Bobby Singer and Jody Mills into one person. Parental figure/adoptive parent, trauma over loss of a child).

- On another similar note I have a lot of feelings about the similarities/differences between Sam+Dean and Will+Jonathan. Parentification of older siblings and snarky queer-coded siblings and growing up in poverty and absent fathers whose presence is at least partially remediated by the presence of unconditionally loving/present parents/parental figures. Forming an identity around adherence/rebellion against that absent father vs. "you shouldn't like something just because people say you're supposed to". Healthy vs. Unhealthy sibling dynamics. Sam Winchester running away to college to escape his father vs. Jonathan Byers not going away for college bc he doesn't feel like he can leave his family.

- El and Cas and Jack would absolutely love each other so much. Just a bunch of Weird Girls (gn, affectionate) learning the intricacies of humanity/society while learning to see their value outside of their power. Finding out who they are and building a family that loves them for exactly that regardless of their usefulness. They would be best friends.

- Nancy "Unauthorized Investigative Journalism" Wheeler would LOVE Sam "So Get This" "The Lore" Winchester. She would become a hunter just so she could put on a little disguise and tag along for Monster of the Week.

- this is more of a rambling about thematic content but. Spn on the dichotomy of monstrosity/humanity (hunter/monster lifestyle vs. White Picket Fence) and ST as a commentary on forced conformity. What is "normal" and who is a "freak"? Who is the authority on the acceptable level of deviance? White picket fences that hide unhappy marriages. Ending up Just Like Your Parents. Characters who are desperate to live a normal life vs. characters who rebuke it. Finding a home in embracing your authentic self and slowly building a found family of people who love and understand you.

- on that note, Karen Wheeler meeting Mary Winchester would be. We don't have time to unpack ALL of that. Trapped in a life of normalcy to conform to what was expected of you vs. to rebel and escape the life expected of you. The baby is crying and your husband is asleep in his armchair. Is this your life? Who are you, really? I think it would break them.

- Dean "secret NerdDork" "besties with a lesbian supergeek" Winchester would vibe with stobin and eddie and the party so hard if they got him out of his shell.

I am accepting constructive criticism on this one so feel free to chime in

Street Chic: Embrace the Trapstar T-Shirt Revolution

In the ever-evolving world of fashion, trends come and go, but some manage to capture the essence of a generation and create a cultural revolution. The "Trapstar" t-shirt phenomenon is one such trend that has taken the fashion world by storm. Combining urban aesthetics with a touch of rebellion, these t-shirts have become an emblem of street chic, making their mark on the fashion landscape. Let's dive into the captivating journey of the Trapstar t-shirt revolution and how it has transformed streetwear into a cultural and style statement.

The Birth of a Rebellion: Unveiling the Trapstar Culture

The Trapstar London culture emerged from the depths of urban neighborhoods, blending music, art, and fashion in a unique and defiant way. This movement drew inspiration from hip-hop, street art, and the vibrant energy of the streets. The Trapstar t-shirt, with its bold graphics and unapologetic attitude, became the canvas on which this cultural uprising was painted.

From the Streets to the Mainstream: A Rapid Rise

The allure of the Trapstar t-shirt quickly transcended its grassroots origins, capturing the attention of celebrities, musicians, and influencers worldwide. Its journey from the back alleys to the red carpet was swift and impactful. The fusion of luxury and urban culture in Trapstar apparel disrupted traditional fashion norms, carving a niche that celebrated individuality and authenticity.

Embracing the Trapstar Aesthetic: The Power of Street Chic

The Trapstar t-shirt revolution didn't just introduce a new fashion trend; it ignited a philosophy of street chic. The juxtaposition of edgy graphics and high-end fashion elements became the hallmark of this style. Those who embraced it were not just wearing a t-shirt; they were making a statement about their identity and outlook on life.

Breaking Boundaries: Challenging Conventional Norms

What sets the Trapstar t-shirt apart is its ability to challenge conventional norms and embrace non-conformity. It's not just an article of clothing; it's a symbol of breaking free from societal constraints and expressing oneself boldly. The Trapstar revolution encourages individuals to embrace their uniqueness without fear.

The Art of Mix and Match: Versatility Redefined

One of the remarkable aspects of the Trapstar t-shirt is its versatility. It effortlessly complements a wide range of fashion pieces, from distressed jeans to tailored blazers. This adaptability has allowed the Trapstar aesthetic to infiltrate various style genres, creating a fusion that appeals to both the rebellious and the refined.

Crafting a Lifestyle: Trapstar Beyond Fashion

The Trapstar movement goes beyond mere fashion; it's a lifestyle that celebrates authenticity and creativity. By donning a Trapstar t-shirt, individuals become part of a community that values self-expression and artistic expression.

Empowerment Through Clothing: The Trapstar Philosophy

Wearing a Trapstar t-shirt is a form of empowerment. It's a reminder that you can pave your path and challenge the status quo. Each design carries a message that resonates with different people, sparking conversations and inspiring change.

The Trapstar T-Shirt Revolution: A Lasting Legacy

As trends continue to evolve, the Trapstar t-shirt revolution remains an indelible mark on fashion history. It has shown that clothing can be a medium for cultural commentary and a canvas for self-expression. This revolution has brought the streets to the forefront of high fashion, forever blurring the lines between luxury and urban aesthetics.

Conclusion: Redefining Fashion, Embracing Identity

The Trapstar t-shirt revolution symbolizes more than just a style; it's a testament to the power of fashion as a tool for self-expression and cultural reflection. Embracing the Trapstar aesthetic means embracing the idea that fashion can be a form of rebellion and a celebration of individuality. So, as you slip on that Trapstar t-shirt, remember that you're not just wearing fabric – you're wearing a piece of the ongoing revolution that challenges norms and celebrates authenticity.

FAQs About the Trapstar T-Shirt Revolution

Q1: What is the origin of the Trapstar t-shirt trend? The Trapstar t-shirt trend originated from urban neighborhoods and drew inspiration from hip-hop, street art, and the energy of the streets.

Q2: How did the Trapstar t-shirt movement become mainstream? Celebrities, musicians, and influencers embraced the Trapstar t-shirt trend, propelling it from the streets to the mainstream and red carpet.

Q3: What sets the Trapstar t-shirt apart from other fashion trends? The Trapstar t-shirt isn't just fashion; it's a symbol of breaking boundaries and embracing individuality and authenticity.

Q4: How does the Trapstar movement empower individuals? Wearing a Trapstar t-shirt is a form of empowerment, as it encourages self-expression and challenges societal norms.

Q5: What is the lasting impact of the Trapstar t-shirt revolution? The Trapstar t-shirt revolution has redefined fashion as a tool for cultural commentary and self-expression, leaving a lasting legacy in the fashion world.

My Camp Nano story is a dystopian urban fantasy following a pair of siblings who end up on opposite sides of a civil war and I... Want To Draw Them, but they make me sad.

I just remembered having this stashed somewhere in my library... It’s a movie dossier for Swing Kids (1993), featuring info about the cast, the production, and some nice colour photos. It’s pretty nice :)

Thought I’d share and leave a link to the pdf scan if anyone’s curious, but since the text is in French, I’ll leave a translation for the parts related to the production under the cut hoping that my knowledge of French is still enough after decades of not speaking it. I’ll leave out the historical background and the cultural information as you can probably read that online whenever you want :)

You can find the pdf here

PRODUCTION NOTES

From the rebellion to the participation

Jonathan Marc Feldman (screenwriter):

«Can a youth rebellion lead to an authentic revolt? This is the question I asked myself when learning about the existence of this protest movement, which was born under the nazi regime, and which was called The Swing Kids. These young people appeared to me as the symbol of the strength of the human spirit: if a revolt was able to express itself in such an oppressive context, are not all hopes allowed?»

Jonathan Marc Feldman’s script evokes the friendship between two seventeen-year-old adolescents, Peter Muller and Thomas Berger, both firmly determined not to enlist in the Hitler Youth. When circumstances beyond their control eventually force them to join the “JH”, the two boys claim they will resist their hold: they will be “JH” by day and “Swing Kids” by night. But is it possible to belong to a totalitarian movement without submitting to it with body and soul?

Robert Sean Leonard (Peter Muller):

«SWING KIDS begins in 1939, before the invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland. Peter, like many young people, does not have a sharp political conscience, although he guesses what is happening in the country. He is divided between the swing, which allows him to “have a blast”, and the pride of serving his homeland by submitting. These two temptations are equally powerful, and it is only after discovering the true nature of nazism that Peter will make the right choice.»

Christian Bale (Thomas Berger):

«SWING KIDS is also, and above all, a movie about friendship. Peter and Thomas make divergent choices that will gradually distance them from each other. Thomas does not resist the seduction of the Hitler Youth, he lets the Party’s ideology corrupt him and becomes a cog of the nazi machine. But in the end, the friendship that ties him to Peter will win.»

The origins of the project

After discovering the existence of the Swing Kids in an obscure historical review, Jonathan Marc Feldman undertook in-depth personal research and collected solid documentation about this movement. Passionate about the subject, he quickly communicated his enthusiasm to producers Mark Gordon and John Bard Manulis, who dedicated four years to the development of the script. «It was clear that it could have given rise to a great movie» Gordon points out, «it was a rare opportunity to make a historical movie that speaks to today’s young people» adds Manulis, who personally funded the development of the script. «The Swing Kids looked for their identity in music and dance, just like the following generations, and it was fascinating to observe the contrast between the social oppression they were experiencing and the - incredibly free - form of expression they had adopted».

Jonathan Marc Feldman:

«The young Germans were attracted by the swing because it represented a new, wild, radically original sound. The swing of the years 38-39 possessed a violence that we can clearly perceive in the famous “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Benny Goodman. Moreover, this music was strictly forbidden, for its Jewish and black origin. The mere fact of listening to it was a political challenge.

These young people were fervent anglophiles, who walked with an umbrella at any season, wore Anthony Eden hats, puffy trousers, Scottish coats. They dressed with great elegance and let their hair grow like Hollywood cowboys. Rejected and despised by the good Germanic society, they were the hippies and the punks of their generation».

To make SWING KIDS, Mark Gordon and John Bard Manulis chose Thomas Carter, prestigious television director, winner of several Emmies, who here signs his first movie.

Thomas Carter:

«I immediately liked the SWING KIDS script. It illuminates a reality that few people know. It is both the painting of a generation and the story of a teenager faced with a painful choice that will make him a man».

John Bard Manulis:

«Thomas Carter is very interested in history and how it repeats itself. He captured all the dimensions of the subject, its nuances, its emotional substrate, and staged it brilliantly».

Filming

Mark Gordon Carter, co-producer Harry Benn and chief decorator Allan Cameron visited five countries in ten days before picking Czechoslovakia. The movie was filmed in Prague and in the Barrandos Studios.

Allan Cameron (chief decorator):

«The centre of Prague, which dates back to the Middle Ages, is of great beauty. There are still cobbled streets, beautiful buildings spared from the bombings, remarkable textures and colors. Another advantage: the architectural diversity of the Old Town makes it possible to recreate almost any city in Central Europe».

The main sets of the movie were built at Barrandov Studios, which are among the largest in Europe. Founded in 1931, they offer technical means and financial conditions that seduce international producers: in parallel with the filming of SWING KIDS, Lucasfilm produced the series “Young Indiana Jones” and BBC produced a new version of “The Trial”.

Other big sets were built at Barrandov, and about sixty interiors and exteriors were made with the help of a small British team surrounded by many local technicians. An old 18th century riding school served as the setting for the scene of the Hitler Youth gathering; a residence in the embassy district became the apartment of Thomas’s rich parents; the Prague Library was converted into the SS headquarters and a vast theatre room was redecorated from the top to the bottom for the spectacular sequences of the Bismarck Café.

Casting

In parallel with the location hunting, Carter and his producers started the casting operations by selecting Robert Sean Leonard, one of the protagonists of DEAD POETS SOCIETY, for the role of Peter.

Thomas Carter:

«Robert is an outstanding actor, both for his gifts and for his modesty and availability. We couldn’t have made a better choice. I personally consider him one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with».

To prepare for the role of Peter, which required his daily presence on the set during the ten weeks of filming, Leonard began by reading several studies about Nazi Germany. «But soon I understood that my character had no knowledge of how the Third Reich operated. So I focused my research on the swing, by listening to countless recordings of the great artists of this era. This dance rediscovers the madness of the Twenties and anticipates the promiscuity of the Sixties. Very physical, it entails a huge expenditure of energy and demands great vitality».

For the role of Thomas Berger, the producers hired Christian Bale, revelation of EMPIRE OF THE SUN, and for that of Arvid, Frank Whaley, one of the main performers of Oliver Stone’s THE DOORS. Barbara Hershey (crowned in Cannes for SHY PEOPLE and A WORLD APART) was chosen to play Frau Muller, Peter’s mother.

The other performers were selected with special care, in Austria, The Netherlands, Wales and the United States. «The casting was hard and required a lot of work» concludes Thomas Carter, «I am particularly pleased with it, as it has allowed us to rediscover the emotional atmosphere of the time».

The swing

Robert Sean Leonard and Christian Bale devoted many hours to learning swing, under the guide of New York choreographer Otis Sallid, to whom we owe the dance sequences of MALCOLM X. Sallid recruited a group of Czech, English, American and French dancers, that he initiated with his assistants to the provocative rhythms of swing, jitterbug and lindy hop, and to the “degenerate” music of Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Django Reinhardt, censored by the Reich for reasons of “racial impurity”.

Jonathan Marc Feldman:

«We picked the most attractive compositions for a contemporary ear and those that the Swing Kids actually listened to, that I was able to find. Among the latter are forgotten numbers such as “Harlem”, which was very popular at the time. By working with Robert Kraft at the re-recordings, we attempted to capture the extraordinary power, vitality of this music. In its beginnings, the swing did not resemble any other form of music. Later, it became more civilized and disciplined, but in the late Thirties it was deeply subversive, captivating. Young people gave themselves to it completely, forgetting about everything else...»

I've recently become interested in astrology. Not surprising, I suppose , it's all over the internet lately, I'm more surprised it took me this long. I did have to ask Gabrielle what time I was born, as it wasn't something we'd ever discussed. She told me, and I quote "lestat, dear child, do you think after nine pregnancies and seven births I remembered a thing like what time I was finally free of you accursed things?" Which, first of all , fascinating way to look at the miracle of childbirth, Mother, but I can't say I blame her. She did manage to remember it was morning, and I think that's all we're going to get. Anyway, perhaps the time I made up was correct because, I believe the phrase is, this chart was AT-ing me. So here we are, presented with commentary.

(Also do you know how long it took me to find a site that allowed me to enter the year 1758?)

"Sun in Scorpio

The sun determines your ego, identity, and "role" in life. It's the core of who you are, and is the sign you're most likely to already know. Your Sun is in Scorpio, meaning you have a fundamental urge to get to the bottom of things, which can at times lead you to be manipulative or power-hungry, but it comes down to an intense passion for authenticity, real intimacy, and the truth. It's in your twelfth house, meaning you feel the need to distinguish yourself from others through privacy, secrets, and introspection."

Well this comes as no surprise. I knew I was a Scorpio, passionate, sensual, easily angered, and ruled by emotions. I've been told Scorpios are one of the harder zodiac signs to put up with, with intense personalities. Guilty. I do like it mentioned my need to authenticity and tendency for introspection, which people often forget about.

"Ascendant in Sagittarius

Your ascendant is the "mask" you present to people. It can be seen in your personal style and how you come off to people when you first meet. Some say it becomes less relevant as you get older. It changes every two hours, so if it doesn't make sense, text your mom to confirm your birth time. Your Ascendant is in Sagittarius, meaning you come across as independent, optimistic, and confident, though sometimes overly blunt or critical. Generally a charming conversationalist, your free-spirited approach may come off as restless or easily bored."

Well I don't know how much older I'll have to get before it's less relevent, because I think "independent, optimistic, and confident, though sometimes overly blunt" is probably how most people would describe me if they're being kind. As is restless and easily bored.

"Moon in Aquarius

The moon rules your emotions, moods, and feelings. This is likely the sign you most think of yourself as, since it reflects your personality when you're alone or deeply comfortable. Your Moon is in Aquarius, meaning your emotional self is intuitive, observant, detached, and rational. You are often in your own world, but are scared of how you truly feel. It's in your second house, meaning you find security and safety through money and material possessions."

And this is where the relentless @-ing appears. In my own world? Scared of how I truly feel? I'm in this picture and I don't like it. Find safety through money and material things? We WONT bring up what Louis calls my tendency to throw money at problems. The Valentines Day debacle, anyone?

"Mercury in Scorpio

Mercury determines how you communicate, talk, think, and process information. It also indicates how you learn. It is the mind's planet. Your Mercury is in Scorpio, meaning your intellect is intense, serious, and obsessive. You have tendency to see things that others don't through your perceptive and insightful intuition. You don't take things lightly and like to get straight to the point, which can come off as harsh, suspicious, or intrusive. You tend to communicate through your body language. It's in your eleventh house, meaning you are curious about and inclined to analyze your friends, how to make an impact on people, and your political life."

Yes, THANK YOU, I'm actually quite intelligent, I'll remind you, people don't remember that because I do hide it under a lot of LOUD, see aforesaid ascendent in Sagittarius, but I spend a lot of time --too much time--thinking. And I have been called blunt. And as I've been called animated more times than I'd like to count, the expressing things through body language is true.

"Venus in Libra

Venus determines how and what you love. It indicates how you express affection and the qualities you're attracted to. Your Venus is in Libra, meaning your romantic side is idealistic and eager-to-please. You want an equitable relationship, and you're willing to make compromises to get there. You can be a little self-obsessed, and may have trouble being realistic or loyal in your relationships. It's in your eleventh house, meaning that for you, love is often expressed in social status, including platonic and casual friends, along with your hopes, wishes, and dreams."

....... Presented without further comment.

"Mars in Sagittarius

Mars is the planet of aggression. It determines how you assert yourself, take action, and the energy that surrounds you—particularly in your sex life, your ambitiousness, and when you're angry. Your Mars is in Sagittarius, meaning you assert yourself in a way that pushes boundaries, you easily become impatient and restless, and you push things forward with more vision than thoughtfulness. It's in your first house, meaning you put a lot of energy into your self and self-image—and, because it's your first house, your Mars in Sagittarius is hyper-present in your personality."

More vision than thoughtfulness can shut up. It's not wrong but it can shut up

"Jupiter in Sagittarius

One of the two social planets, Jupiter rules idealism, optimism, and expansion. It's also very philosophical. Your Jupiter is in Sagittarius, meaning you grow and find understanding through questioning, curiosity, independence, and debate. It's in your first house, meaning you find success through your self and self-image—and, because it's your first house, your Jupiter in Sagittarius is hyper-present in your personality."

A little too much questioning and curiouity, hmm, Marius?

"Saturn in Aquarius

The other social planet, Saturn rules responsibility, restrictions, limits, boundaries, fears, and self-discipline. Your Saturn is in Aquarius, meaning you struggle with obstinacy, a superiority complex, and being overly detached. It's in your third house, meaning you have had difficulties with the things you know and are familiar with."

Me??? A superiority complex????? Obstinate? You know, I'm almost flattered. Just call me the Brat Prince, chart, it'd be faster.

"Uranus in Pisces

Uranus stays in each sign for seven years, meaning it rules a generation more than a person. It rules innovation, rebellion, and progress. Your Uranus is in Pisces, meaning other generations are shocked by your generation's sense of empathy, dreaminess, and gentle nature. It's in your third house, meaning that for you, this manifests in rebelling against dated expectations about the things you know and are familiar with."

I wouldn't call my generation empathetic or gentle, but we were thoughtful. Though compared to some, perhaps we were.

I do not choose to coment on rebelling against dated expectations , as once again, they don't call me the Brat Prince for nothing.

"Neptune in Leo

Neptune stays in each sign for around fourteen years, meaning it rules a generation more than a person. It rules dreams, imagination, and the unconscious. Your Neptune is in Leo, meaning your entire generation finds inspiration through magnanimity, leadership, thinking big, and confidence. It's in your eighth house, meaning that for you, this manifests in your ideal—verging on unrealistic and impractical—about darkness, taboos, rebirth, sex, and transformation."

This is a bit more how is describe those of us who were Young in the years just before the French Revolution. We were throwing ourselves into a new world, a world we were determined to make, and unafraid of the darkness we were about to fall into.

"Pluto in Sagittarius

Pluto stays in each sign for up to thirty years, meaning it rules a generation more than a person. It rules power, intensity, obsession, and control. Your Pluto is in Sagittarius, meaning your generation's psyche is comparatively positive, free-spirited, curious, optimistic, forward-looking, independent, and confident. It's in your first house, meaning you personally are transforming your self and self-image—and, because it's your first house, your Pluto in Sagittarius is hyper-present in your personality."

As is this. The Age of Enlightenment. I do wish some of us were still around

Now tell me, friends and fans and fellow Scorpios, do you agree with the stars?

It is All about Race, Awful Hypocrisy Hypocrisy to Say it’s Not! While I am following closely various discussions on Western mass media and social media, simultaneously engaging in several direct exchanges, one overwhelming leitmotif that I see is clearly emerging: “What is happening in the United States (and the UK, France and other parts of Western Empire) is not really about the race. Let us protest peacefully, let us not allow ‘rioting’ to continue, and above all, please let us not single out the white race, Western culture as a sole villain. Let us have peace, love each other… Then things will miraculously improve; terrible occurrences will soon go away.” I have worked and lived on all continents, from far away island nations of South Pacific (Oceania), to Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. Of course, I lived in Europe and North America, too. Colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism – these are all my topics. Seriously! I have been studying them, investigating them; I wrote and made various documentary films about them. On several occasions I came very close to losing my life, confronting them. My conclusion after all that I saw and experienced and survived? You can probably guess it: “To claim that the race is not what has been, for centuries, dividing our Planet, is outrageous hypocrisy. Or deranged wishful thinking. Or something much worse: it is calculated blindness that serves only the ruling, white group of people.” To make it blunt: Our Planet has been reduced to only two races: White and “the other”! On top of it, the color of one’s skin is not always identical to what the West, in general, perceives as the Caucasian/white race. To be “white” is the state of mind. It means: belonging to the culture which perceives itself as “superior”. The culture which sees itself as ‘exceptional’, and somehow ‘chosen’ to judge and advice the entire humanity. It also means ‘a state of indoctrination and obedience, as well as lack of intellectual courage’. All this, in exchange for the privileges; fabulous privileges! “Plunder the world, and live well above your means; live grotesquely plush life! And while you are living it, do not forget to whine, demand more, and keep repeating that ‘you are also exploited and, actually, a very poor victim’”. Denying the privileges is part of racism, too, as it demonstrates unexpectable spite for the real victims! Or, perhaps, self-imposed blindness. Citizens of some countries, such as Russia, Cuba, and Turkey, may look mainly ‘white’, but they are actually not. They are not invited to the ‘club’, because their mindset is different because they are not submissive because they think on their own. *** Such conclusions may not be popular in New York, London, Paris, or Berlin. Especially not now, when the United States and the entire West are in turmoil. The culture which was built on blood, bones, rape, and theft, ‘culture’ shaped by more than 500 years of colonialist terror, is now turning, twisting, and trying to justify itself. It tries to survive while staying in a driving seat. Countless editorials penned by both ‘conservative’ and so-called ‘liberal’ scribes are carpet-bombing the pages of newspapers at both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Fear of perhaps mortally injured beast – Western regime and its citizens – is delectable by its repulsive stench, and it stinks for miles. Suddenly, most of the so-called ‘progressive’ publications do not want to hear from those writers and thinkers who are shooting powerful projectiles in the form of highly uncomfortable truth. Actually, in the West, there are hardly any true “left-wing” sites or magazines left, of course with some shining exceptions. What is really progressive these days? I don’t want to name the sites or publications here, but you are most likely aware of which ones I am talking about: they almost exclusively carry the stuff written by the Western/white men, for other white men’s consumption! They never cross the line: their criticism of the Western white-dominated world is half-hearted, “peaceful”; in short cowardly. A white man is an individual who has been brought up and indoctrinated in a certain way, who thinks, speaks, and writes in a manner that is expected from him or her by the Western regime. And all these ‘non-whites’, all over the world, including the minorities in the Western countries, are expected to sit on their asses, shut up and listen to him or her, but mostly him. And of course, to obey. Or else! Or else: they will be verbally attacked and humiliated, eventually, they will get sanctioned, their governments were overthrown, countries invaded. There will be corpses all over, the stench of burning flesh, overflowing mass graves. And ‘at home’, in the West? Bullets shot at their eyes, or necks squashed by military or police boots. So, what actually happened a few weeks ago to Mr. George Floyd, has been constantly happening to non-white people all over the world, to the entire communities and countries. Then, suddenly, people, all over the world, had enough! Almost everywhere, not just in China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Enough of being treated as some lower, subservient races. Enough of being treated like a scum; brutalized, killed like Mr. Floyd! *** Now, in the West, both liberal and conservative media is making noises, claiming that Mr. Floyd was “not a saint”, that he used to serve some time in prison. What can I say? People, in general, are not saints. People and countries. Very often, circumstances make them behave in a very nasty matter. But if you are raised as a second-class citizen, if you are beaten, day and night, by your own regime, are you expected to turn out to be a romantic poet? Get real! Our countries, non-Western ones, are not always behaving like saints, either. But they are still better, much better, than those that have been murdering hundreds of millions in their colonies! Don’t they understand, in Washington, London, and Paris, why those millions of people, from Tokyo to Buenos Aires, from Africa to Asia, are now marching in support for the African-American people? It is because all of us, outside Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, are somehow related to Mr. Floyd! Yes, we read those phony essays. We observe those cynical little smiles on the faces of the people who are denying racial and racist division of the world. Individuals who are defending the status quo, the rule of that tiny minority over the planet, so they could maintain their advantages. Some defenders of status quo are now going as far as claiming that the rebellion against the white rulers is actually some sort of dark conspiracy theatre, triggered by the well-concealed business elites, or that it is connected to COVID-19; but above all, that it is not spontaneous at all. It is clear, where they really stand and what they want to achieve. It is never “them”. It is always somebody else. They keep pointing fingers at some invisible bankers, or the minorities in their own countries. You know precisely what I mean. As long as it is not them! But it is all much simpler: most of Europe and North America are constructed on white racism. And so is imperialism, colonialism. Citizens in the West are voting right-wing scum, voluntarily, and consistently. Can you imagine a genuine North American or European “internationalist”? Maybe a few. Perhaps 1%. Not more! So, the proverbial gold keeps flowing in. And billions of non-whites are rotting alive, in all corners of the globe. My friends, my comrades, all over the world, are now opening their eyes, realizing what is happening in the United States and its colonialist daddy: Europe. Many of them, of course, already knew. At least they knew something. But those who did not, are now wide awake, getting well aware of the brutality of the Western regime, as well as of the racist nature of the “global arrangement”. Those who were, for centuries, manufacturing consent, justifying and glorifying colonialism, imperialism, racial discrimination, as well as Western supremacy, can suddenly do nothing to stop the avalanche of awareness. This may be the beginning of the end of segregation, of global apartheid. Just the beginning of the true struggle for equality. A knee of a beefy white racist cop in Minneapolis, which had cut the supply of air, killing an African-American person, somehow managed to trigger that avalanche. Nobody wants to live like this. Oppressed nations do not want to be threatened this way by those white Western cynics and nihilists: like Clinton and Trump, Navarro, Pompeo, and others. What a hellish troop of third-rate violent people! Oppressed minorities inside the empire, be they of African descent, Hispanics or Chinese, are sick of the vicious and repulsive racism. Mostly, they are frightened to speak. But now, day by day, they are gaining courage. *** The United States of America has been built on the genocide of the non-white people. The great majority of native folks had been slaughtered so the small number of the first and brutal European settlers could thrive. This is “to some extend” known fact, but learning in-depth what really happened to the original inhabitants of ‘America’ has been thoroughly discouraged. Word ‘genocide’ is hardly ever uttered, in connection with the first chapters of U.S. history. Actually, it is taboo. Slavery has been turned into folklore. Millions, tens of millions of broken, methodically destroyed human lives, is hardly ever presented in its real, nightmarish authenticity. People in Africa were hunted down like animals, tortured, raped, killed, and shipped like cattle to the so-called ‘free’ and ‘democratic’ “New World”. Does a country constructed on such macabre foundations have really any moral right to call itself ‘free’? Can it be allowed to police the world? It is as if you would allow that murder cob who killed Mr. Floyd, to run a nation! And those states which are now forming Europe? Their citizens are the descendants of those who were hunting down millions of human beings. Offspring of those who perpetrated and then got rich on such mass-slaughters as those of the Namibians, or people who used to inhabit what is now known as Congo. When dragged to the broad daylight, it is all very, very uncomfortable, isn’t it? Better to sweep the truth under the carpet, and talk about “love”, “goodwill”. And then keep robbing and murdering as before, far away from the cameras! This way, nothing would ever change. Repeating over and over again: “race does not matter; it is actually all about class”, could make those who are in control of the world feel good about themselves, even sometimes sorry for themselves, which is actually their favorite state of mind. But it is a terribly hypocritical and deceptive position. And it has to be unveiled if there is ever to be justice! *** On 3 June 2020, UN News, published an essay condemning the situation in the United States: “Voices calling for an end to “the endemic and structural racism that blights US society” must be heard and understood, for the country to move past its “tragic history of racism and violence”, the UN Human Rights chief said on Wednesday. “The voices calling for an end to the killings of unarmed African Americans need to be heard”, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement. “The voices calling for an end to police violence need to be heard”.” Ms. Bachelet, a Chilean, knows precisely what she is talking about! She knows what it is to have someone’s knee choking your aorta. Her father, an army General during the socialist era of President Salvador Allende, was murdered after the US-sponsored coup led by Augusto Pinochet. Ms. Bachelet herself was kidnapped and tortured. She looked ‘white’, but obviously not ‘white enough’ for Washington and its local assassins. What is truly significant is that even the United Nations (usually subservient to the US) is now unwilling to remain silent. *** Race ‘issues’ have to be addressed. Racism, inside the national boundaries, as well as on the global scale, has to be fought against, by all means. The depressing state of our planet is a result of racism. Look at the map of the world at the beginning of the 20th century, and you will see: a great majority of the nations were colonized by the West. Colonialism is one of the most evident forms of racism. It humiliates victims, it robs them of everything: of culture, dignity, land. To a great extent, most of the world is still being colonized. Even right now, as this is being written. Almost the entire Planet is brutally controlled by the racist West-centric education system, and by the mass media which is controlled by the White boy’s Western narrative. Things have been arranged, so that the people in non-Western countries have been ‘learning’ and ‘getting informed’ about themselves from the Western curriculums and the fraudulent sources disseminated by the US and British media outlets. That is grotesquely racist, isn’t it? Close to 10 million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in just a quarter of a century. It is because they have coltan, uranium, and other essential raw materials, desired by the West. But also, because to the West, their black lives matter close to nothing. My film, “Rwanda Gambit”, is clearly addressing the issue. But who cares? In the West, they rather watch porn, instead of learning the greatest genocide of the 20th Century, which they helped to trigger! And who cares about the West Papuans, who are murdered with almost the same intensity by the Indonesians, on behalf of their Western masters? After all, the West Papuans are blacks, therefore matter nothing. On those millions, mountains of corpses, huge companies, and even entire countries are thriving, prosper. While their CEOs and Presidents are talking rubbish about some ‘corporate responsibility’ and love for democracy. And most of the white Europeans, Canadians, Australians, have to sacrifice very little, in order to live their obnoxiously luxurious lives. Isn’t this racist? The entire arrangement of the world is! Soon, it will be impossible to hide behind all those lies. I work at the frontlines. Where human bodies are crushed by all that “love” of the white colonialism and racism, directly but also indirectly. Racist violence is the most repulsive and the creepiest thing on Earth. I want it to end; once and for all. I don’t care if some shops get looted or trashed in the process. Peaceniks who are crying over them are mostly sitting in their plush living rooms, watching censored news. They do not see those tens of millions of victims of racism rotting in tropical heat, floating on the surfaces of polluted rivers, thousands of kilometers away! Images of Mr. Floyd being murdered, slowly and sadistically, is as close as they ever got to reality. For centuries, they did all they could in order not to see. Now they are running out of excuses. Not to see, not to fight against the endemic global racism is a terrible crime. A crime that has been taking place for more than 500 years. The crime against humanity.

Anxious Skies

I present to you Kinesis: Chapter 28, please feel free to look for all previous and future chapters on my Master List and under the “Kinesis” tag :) Love you all!

Warnings: none

[MC]

Anxious Skies

Preparations for the war effort were well underway and in their final stages. With you looking like yourself again, all the work in town was reassigned to Ranmaru and Motonari. This left Gael, Mitsuhide, and you to work out supplies, weapons, and infiltration while everyone gathered their troops and prepared to wage war. The idea was for everyone else to get their forces together, and take control of their respective cities. 

Masamune had already seized control of Gomphrena before your scuffle in the woods, so he was put in charge of starting small border skirmishes to keep everyone on edge. Kenshin and Shingen were able to take back Delphinium within a week of returning, and they were rapidly gaining support and numbers. As of two days ago, a missive had been received stating that Nobunaga had secured Solidago from imperial command. All that was left was you. 

Gaels’ idea was to concentrate on the rebellion forces on Larkspur. After capturing each of the other individual cities, the pressure would be enough to cause a panic. Become a significant enough threat they couldn’t afford to ignore. If we did everything right, Olexy would have no other option than to send out soldiers to fortify the border, leaving him and the city relatively unguarded to inside threats. 

Your mind raced as you finished gathering your supplies for the days to come. Unable to sleep, you ran through the best and worst-case scenarios over and over until you were nearly pacing the room. What exactly were you getting yourself into?

With a deep sigh, you gave up on sleep and rolled off the bed, opening your window to climb out onto the roof of Ranmaru’s safe house. Taking a moment to get as comfortable as possible before laying down to stare at the moon. Your brain hurt. It was almost time to execute this plan to remove Olexy from power, but part of you still doubted your memories. Were they real? Were you really Rhian (YN) Kadupal, heir to the Anthurium throne? Or were you just a puppet with implanted memories and experiences? You could remember not remembering so clearly, and it gave you a headache just thinking about it. What if none of this was real? What if you were only being used?

Panic rose in your chest, and you closed your eyes, trying to push the thoughts from your mind. Of course, those were your real memories, they had to be. You could feel the authenticity, the emotion behind everything you remembered. A breeze blew past, and you shivered, not a moment later, a heavy blanket was laid out on top of you, and the wood of the roof creaked to your left.  

“Something on your mind Mouse?” Mitsuhide asked, only the hint of a smirk on his face. “It’s dangerous for you to be out here, you know.”

“I know, I just needed some fresh air.” You sighed, sitting up to lean against his shoulder. “Am I really Rhian.”

Mitsuhide stiffened beside you before he shifted his body and leaned away from you. “I hope so. Why do you ask?”

“That wasn’t exactly the answer I was looking for, you know.” You sighed as the throbbing behind your right eye picked back up. “Sometimes I just wonder, yanno? I can remember not remembering so easily, and it just feels weird, I guess.”

He hummed in response before wrapping an arm around you and pulling you closer against his side. “I could pick your brain if you wanted. It’d be easy to tell if what you’re remembering is real or not. Though I can assure, you are who everyone says you are.”

You found yourself smiling, Mitsuhide had a way of surprising you. He wasn’t always this sweet, only when he felt you needed it, but that’s what made moments like this so special. That was why you liked him so much.

“Then, please assure me.” You rested your head against the shoulder he had unwittingly offered to you and hummed, content. “Tell me. How can you be so sure that I am me?”

“I’ve had an inkling since the moment you called my plan to send you to Larkspur stupid.” Mitsuhide chuckled. “I’ve become increasingly confident in your identity; the more time I spend with you. Your mannerisms, the way you look at the world, how you treat people, everything is as it always has been.”

“Ahh, I see. We did spend a good amount of time together, didn’t we?” You asked. 

“We did.” He responded confidently. 

“We’re infiltrating the castle tomorrow.” You stated.

“We are.” Was the only response you got.

“It’s going to be dangerous.” You pushed.

“That it is. Might you be scared Mouse? In need of my company?” Mitsuhide teased, a triumphant smirk on his lips.

“Not scared, whatever happens, happens, I guess. I’ve not got much to lose at this point.” You shrugged hugging your knees to your chest. “Though I could always use your company.”

You were confident that even if you failed this time, Nobunaga wouldn’t leave things as they were. Eventually, Olexy would be overthrown, and the Old One’s would bestow these powers on someone deserving of the title. Sure it would be perfect if you could get your revenge the same time you took back the country for your people, but this was real life, and you had to have realistic expectations. This could go very poorly, you knew that, and you were prepared for it. 

“What about you?” You asked, catching the far off look on Mitsuhide’s face. “Scared? Looking to accompany me.”

“Not scared. Unlike you though, I fear I have much to lose tomorrow, which is why I would like to take you up on that offer to accompany you.” Mitsuhide’s eyes were serious. 

“Oh? That’s good.” You tried to smile, but something tugged at your heart. Mitsuhide had something to live for, maybe someone to live for. That should make you happy but instead made your heart race unpleasantly in your chest, so you pressed him further. “Might I ask what it is you have to lose?”

It was quiet for a very long time, crickets chirped and the leaves on the trees rustled. It was a peaceful moment, even if it was a little awkward. Had you gone too far? Was that question inappropriate? Oh gods, what had you just done? Before your thoughts could spiral any further out of control, Mitsuhide hooked a finger under your chin and lifted your face until you were eye to eye. 

“You Rhian. I could lose you.” Mitsuhide’s voice came out soft, but his eyes were sharp, earnest in his confession. 

“That’s not a funny joke.” You choked out, your heart doing backflips in your chest. 

“It’s not a joke.” His voice was sweet, and his eyes tender as he continued. “I will not make the same mistake again, I refuse to let you disappear from my sight and my life.”

“You mean it? Like really, really mean it?” A smile broke across your face. 

“Why would I lie about something like tha-” Mitsuhide never finished his sentence. 

Your hands flew around his neck as you tackled him to the roof, there was a surprise ‘oof’ before it morphed into a muffled moan. Your lips were on his in an instant, and he offered a long drawn out kiss in return. Breaking away you peppered his face with a kiss after kiss only stopping when a whistle could be heard from the street. 

“Take it inside kids!” Motonari yelled before he roared with laughter, the sound only stopping once he was well inside the house. 

“So what do you think? Wanna take this inside?” You wiggled your eyebrows sitting up as you straddled his waist. 

“Please.” His response was breathy. Not giving you a moment to stand before he hauled both of you up off the roof and back into the house. 

There was a line in “Steven’s Birthday” where Steven was pretending to be more physically mature than he was to the effect of “All I need to do is keep this up for the rest of my life.” To that, Amethyst talked about the strain shapeshifting for that long puts on your body. I’d been thinking about that line once Rose’s past was revealed. Forget physical limits; how much of a mental strain was it to pretend to be someone you weren’t your whole life?

The thing about Rose Quartz is that wasn’t just who she was. She was also how others saw her, what they believed her to be, what they wanted her to be.

Sure, Rose was able to readjust that image from “spoiled brat who doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously” to “inspirational leader of the Rebellion,” but in the end, an image is just an image.

And towards the end, that was all she was. She could never be herself. I’m not sure if she could even be herself with Pearl; she might’ve felt the need to put on a happy face so Pearl would have no reason to doubt herself or regret the sacrifices she’d made. She tried to tell Greg the truth, but he brushed her off, saying the past was the past and what mattered was who she was now. Still, I can’t help but wonder if Rose was still anxious about whether she was putting on yet another front for Greg without realizing it by “lying by omission” after he called attention to her tendency to do that in We Need to Talk.

Rose was raised to believe that all love was conditional. She could only deserve the love and adulation showered upon a Diamond by playing the part of a Diamond. That was no different whether it was from her subjects or her own family. She was able to discard “Pink Diamond” so readily because being Pink Diamond felt like an act. Her family forced her to pretend to be someone she wasn’t to keep up appearances and maintain the status quo, and threatened to withhold that love if she failed to perform, until all authenticity was drained from the public person’s of “Pink Diamond” and her relationships with others. However, while she may have been free to be herself as Rose Quartz, but even when “freed” from the expectations of her caste, she still couldn’t shake the idea that she had to earn others’ love by being everything they wanted. The real Rose was trapped inside yet another role as the leader of the Rebellion who had all the answers, and remained so until her death.

She died believing the lies the Diamonds told her (and themselves). She died believing her closest family would stop loving her if they ever found out who she was. We know now that wasn’t the case. Yes, there was a huge blowup when the truth case out. Everyone was angry or outraged or sad, and they were forced to reevaluate their beliefs and identities, since so much of who they were was tied up in what they each believed Rose to be. But, eventually, the storm passed and everything settled into a new normal. Even if the Crystal Gems didn’t hold Rose to the high esteem they did before, they still loved her. They didn’t forsake her symbol or her cause, even if it came to mean something different to each of them as they figured themselves out without Rose.

That’s what makes Rose such a tragic character to me. Sure, the truth would have hurt, but the truth would have also led to a genuine reconciliation. They could’ve come out of it as a stronger family. Rose could’ve finally been herself around the people she loved without guilt or fear. Instead, Rose chose to end it and replace herself with someone new.

I think that might be why Sugar tends to avoid character deaths as plot devices or as moralistic punishments for “bad” characters. It gives the deaths that are already in the story as clear, immutable facts much more weight. Dying before one’s time is tragic not just because the people left behind will grieve, but also because it’s an ending. Furthermore, it’s an ending without any chance of resolution. We’ll never get to see who this person would have become if things had been a little bit different. We’ll never see them forgive the people who hurt them as they make amends, or to be forgiven by the people they themselves hurt as they strive to make things right. It’s something that can never be taken back.

Us (2019) *Spoilers*

Us is the best movie I've seen since Mandy.  I shouldn't oversell it, but it's really rich and basically everything I like movies for.  I’m going to at least refer to major plot spoilers (usually without direct description) so stop reading if you want to stay clean.

Horror seems more direct and out of the box able to get at the concerns I like narrative art to deal with.  The genres kind of promote certain thematic preoccupations, and horror is so diencephalonic that it really is able to go psycho-chrono-geographically extreme (more unconscious, more primordial, more in the woods) with less dithering.  This movie is an example of why all my favorite movies loosely categorize horror (even cheap dumb horror movies seem to work a lot better subliminally than those of other genres).  

For people who don’t care about spoilers and want to follow along, the movie unfolds as follows: A black upper middle class family goes to their vacation house where no-one really wants to be - the daughter is in her phone, the son is withdrawn, the mom actively does not want to be there, and the dad is overcompensating.  They go to Santa Cruz beach where the mom, when she was a kid, saw a girl who looked just like her in a hall or mirrors below the carnival/boardwalk, the trauma stemming from which derives much of the movie’s impetus.  On the beach, they meet their friends, a white family who are the image of superficial aspirational American values.  

One night a full set of their doppelgängers show up in the driveway and a battle for survival begins.  This turns out to be broader with, at least regionally, alters (”the tethered”) showing up everywhere and killing their analogous surface people. The white family falls immediately, sand our guys have to face their alters too.  The family eventually triumphs, but not before the mom descends into the tunnels under the hall of mirrors and faces her alter who reveals a too literal plot and wins.  The family drives away and it is revealed that the mom was (THE SPOILER) the alter all along and what happens is the result of the “real surface mom” jealously yearning for participation in that kind of stuff we do that gives life meaning, including odd self delusions and empty displays... so, like culture in general.

What the movie is really about is how we have within us a shadow of our primal selves, an ancestral image of progenitors who were concerned with drives and survival, and we suppress this so that society can function and we can be free from the knowledge of existential risk. The "absent center" (a la Derrida) of the movie is the culture war in which we are prone to let this shadow (and its instinctual out-group hatred and violence) take more control. We have a complex relationship this repression that involves guilt (we have it better than they did, civilization is theft and genocide, how can I forget this) and tightly bound attraction/fear of giving into the deeper drives - we know it is valuable but we don't want to edge in too far.  

So civilization is an internal tension filled detente that is kind of a lie we tell ourselves, and that situation is slipping a little bit. Presented as the main perturbation is trauma - being forced to see the real of which this shadow is a part, whether the trauma is abuse, encountering too harsh truths as a child, day to day existence in western civilization, self inflicted trauma to confirm to norms, the loss of a way of life, epigenetic shock from slavery, or whatever else.  Being a “realist”, and societal “red pilling,” is depicted as extremely destabilizing and dangerous because the truths discovered when outed may annihilate everything we have been striving for (if that’s worth saving at all). 

Note, this is within the context of not absolute truth but competing ambiguities, or at least an ambivalent set of incommensurable ideas that are all true but are immanently inconsistent. Or, alternately phrased, culture has rejected confronting certain truths for so long that we should be afraid of how a bunch of people who are not nuanced and are not prepared for the knowledge will react, but we really need to understand the real to grapple with the inevitable dissonance (competing ideas of the good) when figuring out a way forward. This movie is not pedantic and is well aware this struggle should not be ignored but the pain of confronting the truth is that it threatens the good in a way that is fucking tough to resolve.

The semiotics of this movie must have taken forever to put together.  There is symbolism everywhere and most symbols have multiple meanings.The main reference points are the 1111, rabbits, and the direct references to other media, but it is drenched in nods to the Americana, slavery, status markers, black cultural touchstones, etc..  

The 1111 recurrence has many reflections, some harder to notice.  11:11 is in the ether as the “time that big shit goes down,” has numerological connections to the divine descending to earth, and has a direct function of representing the individuation/alienation of the family and the way things are “twinned.”  One good example of the way this ties together is, as they walk across the beach, their 4 shadows make the Black Flag symbol (there is recurrence of Black Flag T-shirts to remind us) which is a stylized single (1) flag, furled as to show a staggered arrangement of the 4 band members as individuals - unity in individuality, which the movie questions (also to play into themes of suburban rebellion and “authenticity”). The 1111/11:11 works a lot of ways: to suggest an eschaton of individuality, that there is a moment of great potential and danger, as judgement/revelation foreshadowing (via Jeremiah 11:11 "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them."), the twinnings at different levels (we see the Black Flag t most clearly in the chest of one of a set of twins who have their own "twins" 11:11 - the other twin just has on a halter to maximally show off her "twins").

The rabbits are a psychological critique of the id in modernity (this movie is interesting about sex in its color-around-the-picture absence).  In deep psychological tunnels, they are caged and consumed subconsciously, red and bloody, as the current order/superego’s sacrifice to keep things quiet, and set free by the lysis in libidinal excess.  They also abut the slavery imagery as they are caged, utilized instrumentally, and are present not just in tunnels but in something that codes as an underground railroad.  But mostly I think Peele must be a David Lynch fan as Inland Empire informs this use. 

The Twin Peaks references were unexpected.  The first sequence is a descent from the carnival of fake activities that simulate real experience to the “deep place,” past the dweller on the threshold who gives us warning, into the woods with an owl (which isn’t what it seems), and into a veil of curtains through which are the deeper psychological truths where we interrogate inability to cope with trauma as a kind of existential problem - the whole situation as a manifestation of the sickness of the structures that give life meaning.  Also, the protagonist is trapped for a similar length of time, has a doppelgänger that is in a way the real protagonist revealed, and needs to face this part of themselves.

So, we’ll try to hit most of the wide ranging pop-culture references, but things really intertwine. Example: the red smocks evoke several things: 1. Michael Jackson, with glove, specifically Thriller (as on the tee), intentionally picking up on the gaslighting, the trauma, the ties to his own hidden nature, and the fraught nature of cultural affiliation (specifically black - Peele is the one doing the questioning) that perpetrates a cycle of behavior (we’ll get to code switching); 2. Chain gangs/prison uniforms - there are shackles in the movie and "tethered" is the word for the link between people and their alters - which, in the imagination, is just an echo of slavery;  and 3. Michael Myers... the white mask of one of the characters delineates this, but it reminds one of the other as an encounter with the real.  The glove looking like a low res infinity gauntlet will be left as an exercise for the reader.

The Jaws T-shirt fits with the water/boats stuff, evoking the polysemous subliminal other as a threat to out prosperity and illusions about ourselves. Just as in Jaws, the other is a really wide concept and can lend to a lot of different readings focusing on whatever you want to about the modern western world and what we fear/suppress.  All the MJ symbols and the mention of OJ alludes to the fraught identity of being trapped between worlds.  Black Flag and NWA recalls the shakiness of authenticity from opposite sides.  The consistent riffing on The Shinning evokes the sickness in the culture, the family, and the individual as inseparable and leveraged against our forgetting what has happened and who were were before. Hands Across America’s repeated direct referencing instantiates the desire for and society's readiness to provide the lie agreed upon, ambivalence about which is at the heart of the film.  Lost Boys is name checked by location and timing - literally they its filming is there in the flashback part - but also the spectacle hiding our savage natures which we are drawn to but need to control.  The home invasion scene is very A Clockwork Orange, with the eruption of violent life into the modern domestic space set to pointedly inappropriate music. There are tons of less specific movie references each evoking multiple films with similar shadowing - masks, scissors as weapon, the hall of mirrors, carnival as place of trial and trauma, underground as a place to resolve answers, incongruous music and violence,  etc. There is a shot with shelves of VHS tapes all of which have obvious resonances (CHUD, Goonies, the Man with Two Brains, Nightmare on Elm Street) except the Right Stuff which is pointedly there, perhaps as a reminder that man can and will transcend.

Tim Heidecker plays just the kind of character who you'd expect - a clueless smarm who goofily performs the rituals of commodified masculinity while not really seeming masculine at all. His transparency is why he was cast. He is part of a whole family critique of the superficiality of the American dream and how there is rot underneath.  Much of this critique is undercooked and a weak spot of the film as the family’s alters, besides Elizabeth Moss’s narcissism prompted ritual self mutilation, aren’t that worked in. Yeah, the father mimes dad stances, and the kids are interchangeable just like suburban identities (right, commuters?), but that’s it.  There is a lot of deeply implicit racism and distrust of the outsider in the families’ interactions that is much more subtle than “I would have voted for Obama for a third term.” How about “I knew you’d forget the flare gun” (but not the rope or life preservers) which has a lot running through it - ironic racial assumptions, a from the right critique of a political stance valuing safety and security over defense and accepting help, the "making fire” motif involved in beating back the shadow, and the plastic “real man” attitude.

The primary family is black and affluent, and have a connection to black culture that is depicted as at once not entirely real, aspirational, and a kind of cosmic separation.  But (mostly) the really deep connection to these things is "forgotten." Dad’s efforts to code switch when he has to summon something other than performative consumerism comes off as pathetic in the face of the power of the history of survival.  As dad listens and performs involvement of “heritage,” the son asks what “I Got 5 On It” means - dad deflects and the daughter answers “drugs.”  The correct answer is having a stake in the ($) dream whatever rules you have to break to get there.  This rubs (intentionally) uncomfortably against the Michael Jackson and OJ references (and the trapped in the closet pseudo reference) as cultural aspiration is about having to either forget a history of bad things (what the actual text of the things are speaking to) or leave behind the products of that thing (at which point where is your connection to your cultural past).  

The Fuck the Police joke works a bunch of different ways: 1. It’s a pun; 2. it’s an Alexa/Siri not working joke; 3. it brings the specter of technology contributing to faulty society into the space (as does the daughter’s phone); 4. it ironically contrasts with Good Vibrations; 5. it ironically contrasts with the action, the incarcerated kicking the shit out of suburbanites as class revenge; 6. the actual police literally still haven’t shown up after the 911 (is a joke) calls; 7. it expresses our ambivalence to societal strictures; 8. it is at odds with the environment, suggesting the absurdity of the middle class aping authenticity; 9. Ice Cube now makes a lot of fish out of water comedies of hood-coded man trying to fake middle class; 10. I could go on.

The weapons used by the heroes are all affluent symbols, often a costly reclaiming/supplanting/mastering of the primitive with the stuff of the modern - an expensive aluminum bat, a golf club, an outboard motor, and a geode mounted on a stand. The 3 family members win against both their shadows and that of their white counterparts by unifying his modern advances with the primitive impulses. The dad wins by understanding how machinery works and by mastering fire.  The daughter wins because cars > running. The son is really something because he is all about play and tricks and can't make fire, but is really about empathy (or maybe mirror neurons). His alter plays with fire, has burned himself badly, and is scared by technological magic.  So our son makes a spark, and learns to play with the other and thus control him to walk backwards into the alter's own fire.  He learns this trapped in a closet (the second R Kelly sub rosa reference this weekend after Shazam saying "I believe I can fly" before a messy edit) surrounded by board games including Monster Trap and Guess Who?

The twist really opens up what the movie is saying and is perfect Twilight Zone type "both chewy plot gotcha and thematic epiphany.” The twist basically says that the jolt of becoming aware of the real is traumatic and, if it is bad enough and you are susceptible, the state of wokenness requires you to fake it in order to fit into the life you desire but are alienated from, while the part of you that loves life (giving over to a spirit, art, believing in something "true" rather than factual) stays buried ready to erupt with negative effects.  This is a unique take on the subjectivity of trauma, that the bad unacceptable thing that is not supposed to happen that happened to you makes you feel like you are characterized primarily by that bad thing pretending to be the transcendent nature you repressed.  And yet, the movie ends with the Shining helicopter landscape shots of the car driving away, to Hands Across America being re-enacted, our primitive selves being inspired to attempt to recreate the lie of society as a life affirming spectacle.  This rhymes with the mom continuing to play mom as the performance is the reality, is who she really is.

I have left a lot on the table... the boat (that always pulls left) stuff as class critique, the voices the alters have, what each families’ possessions say (especially the wall art and architecture of the houses), the movements of the alters, the coding of the water settings, the idea of the “Carnival” of souls over abandoned tunnels and superficial (cheap and temporary) vs. deep (forgotten) culture, the scissors as a compound metaphor, the mirroring, 100 other media nods (e.g. Home Alone), the general quality of the music cues, the overdetermining alter names from the IMDB page, the Howard and thỏ shirts, the drunk dad, the excessive hinting at common types abuse (using film and real language) but not letting us have that as an organizing reality (as Nightmare on Elm Street does), and other stuff I’m not dredging up.

The movie is not prefect - 1. it commits the cardinal sin of 11th hour exposition to set the literal plot in concrete, which I didn't need and waters down the themes; 2. the white family (other than mom) deserves more specific behavior from their alters, and 3. there is only one real standout acting performance (Lupita Nyong'o, who I didn't "get" until this). But man, this is 1000 x better than Get Out - it's broader and more primal in its concerns with race falling out as just one critique among many.  

2017: confusion, hopelessness, and silver linings

Remember on January 1st of 2017 when someone altered the Hollywood sign to say hollyweed? Well I guess we should’ve known the year would be all downhill from there.

Ok that’s not totally fair. On the world stage it was a year of highs and lows, disasters and improvements, and it’s difficult to separate the good from the bad. If I had to sum up my year, I’d label it as in confusion. World events seemed to be one disaster after another all through the year. From a rise in gun violence in the United States, to a humanitarian crisis against the Rohingya people, a catastrophe in Yemen that the rest of the world has ignored to numerous natural disasters across North America, 2017 was a year of suffering across the globe. Not to mention and an increase in oppressive and chaotic policies from world powers: pushback against free speech in China, efforts to curb internet freedom from every major world power in human civilization, Turkey’s embrace of elected dictatorship, the United States’ rollback of protection on transgender individuals, Spain’s takeover of Catalunya, Russia’s imprisonment of political opponents, a genocide against gay people in Chechnya and the United States’ pullback on climate protections. Some claimed 2016 showed a rebellion of the working class against elites, and heralded populist policies as restoring rule of the common person. 2017 showed how misguided these ideas really were.

But in the middle of all the suffering, 2017 showed us a slight glimmer of hope for us to build our futures on. As an observer of humanity, I was very enthusiastic to see the rise and popularity of the #MeToo movement—that a substantial group of people in western society are willing to listen to the claims of women against harassment, and take a stand against anyone who perpetuates this violence. And this new intolerance of sexual crimes even drifted to the most conservative parts of the united states: a (small) majority of Alabama voters were willing to put aside the politically-divisive atmosphere that they’ve cherished in the face of a candidate whose unapologetic bigotry was overshadowed by his alleged pedophilia. After a tense year in most western countries’ politics, this showed some kind of hope that people would stand together to put what is right before their own pride.

Any discussion of 2017’s silver linings would be incomplete if I didn’t mention the strides taken by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to modernize the countries policies and eliminate corruption. From allowing women to drive, to a reopening of movie theaters, I am hopeful that the oppressive regime will continue its path towards acknowledging human rights to all people. These steps might be small, they may be small victories amidst a larger trend against human rights, but the most oppressed among us are slowly gaining their freedoms. Those people’s livelihoods are worth every struggle. Amidst a general feeling of hopelessness that has surrounded world events, we have a beautiful silver lining. That was a main theme of 2017: hope in the face of hopelessness.

I found it interesting how closely entertainment in 2017 reflected this. Memes became more ironic and cynical as the world seemed to lose its way forward. As life became more confusing and the truth seemed to drift farther away, surreal memes became popular showing the meaningless of the world. Even the newest movie in the Star Wars saga reflected our time, showing how small acts of kindness in the face of huge defeats for the resistance made the whole journey worth it, all while the film’s antihero urges us to put our losses behind us and embrace the uncertainty of the future.

Many of the reactions people had to all this trouble really bothered me, especially people who try to fight what they think is wrong, but aren’t sincere about it. I call it popular protesting, and I know I’ve played along with it sometimes. When there’s some outrage in the world, people speak out about it until its old news, and then they move on to something else. Meanwhile the people affected by the outrage are left to rot, just some pawns in a political game. It’s sick, and it has to stop. Meanwhile people totally ignore crises that are harder to take some fake moral high ground in (again why don’t more people care about the worst humanitarian crisis of the decade in Yemen?).

Of course for us, what makes a year good or bad is more about personal experience than that of world events that don’t affect us personally. And I know a lot of you had amazing years, spending time with friends and making memories. Ironically, I think my year directly mirrored the world’s. Some of the best memories of my life were formed this year, and some of the worst, I felt the general hopelessness and saw silver linings in my own life as in the world. Maybe we’re all just reflections of the world we live in, if we are willing to admit it to ourselves.

At the end of 2016, I asked a friend on Instagram what he thought the key to ethical behavior was. His response was “to accept that you are not any more special than anybody else and act accordingly.” I thought that was a pretty crappy answer at first, but I think he’s right: it takes realizing that you are no superior to anyone else to act in a way that isn’t selfish and act fairly. Everyone is just as confused and scared as you, nobody belongs anywhere, and everyone’s going to die, so you have the same consideration towards all people as you do yourself. So I went into 2017 with that attitude, spent a lot of time thinking about life, and after melding it with my previously-held beliefs, I thought I’d been enlightened or found some sort of key to life. I realize now how arrogant that was to think I had everything in my understanding. I guess if life was easy to figure out, someone else would’ve done it by now.

Here’s the thing. In Atlantis’s culture there’s something called the Jakanta, an ancient practice which refers to a way of living, where you constantly pursue a greater truth, discovering some sort of pattern to the universe. I’m not sure if there’s an allegory in human society but it’s something engrained in our history and I try to live to pursue it. For a long time I felt like I was getting closer to being firmly “enlightened” and gained understanding of reality, and then I came across information that started forcing me to dismantle what I thought were my hard-formed values. The thing is, it was my philosophy of Jakanta that was forcing me out of the ideas I’ve believed my whole life. Realizing that you’ve been wrong and letting go of your so-called sacred cows is probably the scariest thing a person can do. And it didn’t make me happier or feel liberated or anything, it only made my life more chaotic and confusing. Because I loved being that old Hep. That Hep was so passionate and driven, felt wise and validated, like I was going somewhere. I bet if that Hep met me now he would never guess I was once him. Maybe that Hep would rather die than become me, see me as some empty and purposeless shell. But the ironic part is that I came directly from that Hep’s way of thinking.

Anyone who has talked to me at any length knows I’m a more than a little obsessive about the concept of identity (If y’all want, maybe I’ll write a long paper about all I’ve learned about it someday). That’s one of the main reasons I’ve kept my account all these years lol, because constantly being asked who I am by all of you forces me to think about identity and I still don’t have it completely figured out. But this is what 2017 taught me: what defines you isn’t your beliefs or knowledge, because that is constantly changing (either that or you die stupid, like your politicians). Rather I think that what forms a person’s identity is how they think and allow themselves to grow. What are they willing to question? Do they have faith in something? I guess the beliefs that define your identity are the ones about how to grow, not conceptions of the world. So if any of us want to improve, we need to start by adopting a better way of thinking.

So this begs the question, is my way of thinking even good? Obviously questioning and overanalyzing everything like I do didn’t do me any favors, basically destroying whatever walls I’d built up to keep me sane! I feel like after the past year I’ve lost touch with a lot of reality, just drifting through some abstract space I don’t understand. Maybe I’ve gone insane, probably, even. But at least I am authentic to myself. Because it’s so easy to delude yourself, and I’m constantly worried that I’m pushing reality away in exchange for what I’d rather be true to feel secure and accepted. You can convince yourself of anything you want, if it makes you feel good. Maybe if “ignorance is bliss” I should just forget the whole thing and delude myself into whatever is comfortable. For several months I’ve been wrestling with a simple question: if knowing some truth makes me unhappy and sets my life askew, is it worth knowing? I’ve asked a ton of friends about this (thanks y’all). One of them told me what I’d feared: my good friend told me that nobody can never escape ignorance, so learning isn’t relevant. She told me that it’s best to live entirely in faith and not question things that may lead me down questionable paths. My gut reaction was to reject that, but I didn’t understand why. Because she’s right, I will never achieve complete understanding, I know it as did the monks who established the Jakanta in Atlantis 3000 years ago. Was it time to topple that final pillar of my identity and exchange pursuing knowledge for a blissful life?  

It took me a while to come up with a good answer: knowledge builds wisdom, and that helps others. A happy life lived only for itself is no meaningful life. However, I can use my understanding of the world to help others who are struggling with similar situations, and not often, but maybe, I can change someone’s life for the better. If I can help just someone, all the unhappiness in the world is worth suffering. How selfish is willful ignorance! Only those who suffer can sympathize with others. That’s why every religion claims their central figure “suffered in every way.” I’m no more special than anyone else, so if I can help someone through real physical struggles, my mental confusion is worth every second of it. So then knowledge doesn’t always make you happy, but it always makes you better.

See I don’t know when I’ll die. I’m just lucky to have survived for as long as I have. I think I don’t value that enough: I need to make a difference while I still can, in the name of those who didn’t make it through the past year. And most importantly, when my time comes I want to die where I stood, following what I believed in. I don’t want to die complacent, like a former hero who has become irrelevant while his work is undone. That’s why I try so hard to keep improving myself, so that I can pursue what I believe till the very end. Life is too short to check out and stop helping people.

I’m realize I’m rambling, and maybe you’re trying to think up some platitude to respond to me, but I assure you that’s the last way I want you to react. This is not at all a plea for sympathy or some way to evangelize my ideas to you, I’m just putting out there what I’m thinking because maybe it will help someone think. And because everyone always asks me what my “true identity” is: well, this is it. I’m Hep, because that’s how I choose to grow.

Is happiness a lost cause for those of us who question everything like I think is right? I thought so at first. But my good friend Taylor made a point that gave me hope: she says that whatever contentment I lost because of what I’ve learned this year will surely pass. Everyone knows that people resist change, that much has been obvious over the last two years. Missing my old state of mind and feeling less happy about life becoming chaotic and confusing is just that same fear of change. If I embrace the chaos, I’ll eventually find that contentment again. I expect this cycle of understanding and confusion will continue throughout my life. Thinking I know myself, losing it, and moving on. Maybe it will bring with it waves of depression or confusion, but all is worth it because with each cycle I will be better equipped to help others. And so out of this cycle of hopelessness and chaos, I have my silver lining.

You know, seems poetic to me that America, in a year full of politically-charged anger, would experience a full solar eclipse. As some of you know, I made the trek out from Atlantis to middle America to see the full eclipse, and maybe those of you who didn’t do the same will not understand this at all. When the full eclipse began, and the sky had darkened, a cold wind rolled over the plains relieving from a hot summer afternoon and the sun became a beautiful iridescent ring, circling a brilliant silver sphere of the moon. It hovered there in the sky, and for a minute it seemed to give peace to everything beneath it. I was reminded of the words of a certain future empress of Atlantis, 19 years old at the time, nearly 2500 years ago. “When nature reveals to us its full glory, it challenges us to imprint its beauty upon our souls.” She said this while leading a rebellion against a violent and oppressive government that ruled Atlantis, a movement which would result in the restructure of our government and issue in an era of prosperity, peace and stability. To me, the eclipse was a reminder that life and society are improved not by opposing anger with anger, but by individuals each harboring a determined peace and understanding as the foundation of their souls.

This thought is by no means original in the current climate, but while these ideas are often used as tropes to make the user feel righteous they are blatantly ignored in practice. Maybe many of them try to live by it. I know I’ve failed at applying this idea many times, because anger is such an easier response to fear and confusion than temperance and self-examination. It is my challenge to keep improving myself to approach this, and I expect I will continue pursuing this goal for the rest of my life.

I’m not a believer in new years resolutions. You can keep your “new year new me” crap, because one week in, you’ll realize you have no means to achieve your goals, give up and be twice the slob you were beforehand. Heck I bet a handful of you already gave up. Because you can’t just change your habits and beliefs on a whim, all you can hope to do is make an effort to grow. So in that spirit I’m giving myself a challenge to give myself a direction to improve. I probably will fail to follow it many times, but that’s okay as long as I keep trying.

Here’s my challenge, to start the year. For one, I’m not going to fall into the trap of popular protesting. If something bad is going on, I’ll either keep spreading awareness and don’t stop until it’s fixed—no letting go when the public stops caring—or I’ll let someone else carry the fight. There’s nothing worse than an insincere activist. And if someone is being unethical it does me no good to hate on them. The best reaction is to behave in the way opposite of them, acting positively instead of negatively. As my man Ghandi once said, you gotta be the change you wish to see in the world. I think I’m going to try to cut judgement out of my life altogether: whenever something happens or someone says an idea, my first reaction is often to identify it as good or bad. Just like I’m not a fan of names, I’m not a fan of those labels, and I’ll work to stop that response in myself. Every time you label something, you keep it from being properly questioned, and that’s unhealthy for me. And finally, as always, I will try to be a decent person, try to make an impact on those around me and work to acquire knowledge and improve my thinking.

That’s where I’m going in the next year. I’m not asking you to agree with it or adopt the same challenge, but I hope you ask yourself where you want to grow. Every day is another step in the journey to make yourself authentic, and I hope you all live to be the best versions of yourselves. Don’t be afraid to leave your pasts behind and look to the future, always find ways to be kind, and never stop questioning your thoughts.

Hep out.

How the heck do you come out as a trans mtf?? I'm so lost and hurt and I want people to take me seriously and Aw heck!!

How about a letter?

Making the decision to come out as trans/non-binary/genderqueer etc. to your parent(s), caregiver(s), guardian(s) or loved ones is an important first-step towards being who you are and living the life you deserve. The first thing we always recommend to youth coming out to family members is to write a letter. A letter has many advantages:

It allows you to completely say all that you need to say without interruption,

It allows you to sleep on and then revise your own words until you feel comfortable with them, and

It is courteous to the person you’re coming out to because it gives them the opportunity to read, reread, and have their own private reactions before having to respond to you.

Initial reactions to big news can come from a place of surprise and often, a natural resistance to change. Giving loved ones the time and space to react privately makes it more likely they will respond thoughtfully - coming from a place of love and respect, which is better overall for both of you and your relationship.

Additionally, the letter format gives you the opportunity to include attachments for further reading. Your coming out should be personal and about the details of your individual journey, but it’s natural for your loved ones to have questions about gender identity in general. We find that parents and caregivers are often more receptive to factual information coming from an outside source, separated from the personal emotion of your story. We’ve prepared a few resources you can pass on to your loved one; feel free to include them or others as you feel comfortable.

Wondering about what to write? Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Be Confident. You know who you are. You are sharing this aspect of your identity with your loved ones, not asking for their permission to be your authentic self. Tell them how long you’ve known you were different and how you came to realize that trans*/genderqueer/etc. is the term that best communicates your identity. This can help them understand this is not a phase, an impulsive decision, or “teenage rebellion.”

Be Respectful. You want your family members to treat you with respect and support, so show the same towards them. Remind them that you love them and want them to know the ‘real’ you. Respect that this might be new to them and they may have a lot to learn about gender identity before they fully understand.

Be Reassuring. Your family loves you and consequently, they worry about you. More often than not, parents’ negative reactions come from being worried about you, your future, and your safety. Reassure family and friends that you are and will always be the same person inside, with the same interests, sense of humor, etc. Tell them that you will be okay and know you can still have a happy life that includes college, a career, a family, travel - anything you wanted for your future previously is still possible!

Be Simple. Trans* identities can seem completely foreign to many people. Telling your parents “I’m a genderqueer femme transfag” is probably too much for them to swallow in one go. Let them get used to the idea of “transgender” before you hit them with the nuances. Think of it this way: If you were a gay man coming out, would your family also need to know the various gay sub-culture groups (bear, leather, etc) you belong to? Probably not - at least not right away.

Be Yourself. The most important thing is to relax and just tell your story! Keep it personal and about you.

End your letter with action steps:

What do you want or need from your family?

If you got this resource from the “In a Bind” website, you probably want them to buy you a binder.

You may also want them to start using a different name or pronouns for you. Let them know why these things are important to you.

It’s also important to include a message about who you do or do not want them sharing this information with.Realize that your loved ones also need emotional support, so it’s unfair to ask them to not tell anyone at all. It is appropriate, however, to ask that they let you have your own conversation with a sibling, other parent or family member first. Try not to wait too long though, because withholding information about something important and emotional can be quite stressful.

Finally, remember that this is not a “one and done” conversation. While some find it useful to continue the conversation in writing, you will eventually want to discuss this in person. In your letter, ask when a good time would be. This gives them a chance to digest this new information before having an in-person conversation and shows that you know and respect this.

We realize this may be a difficult time. If you have any questions or need additional support, please contact the “In a Bind” staff at [email protected] or TransActive in general at [email protected]. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself or need to talk to someone immediately, please call the Trevor Project Lifeline-866-488-7386.

SOURCE: https://www.transactiveonline.org/inabind/comingout.php

Kyle

Is weed gay?: Iconic influence in America

Cannabis and LGBTQIA+ culture intersect in all corners of society, from our individual social lives to our culture as a whole.

Throughout BUY DABWOODS CART ONLINE , and particularly during the last century, the place of cannabis and queer people in society has shifted dramatically. Through it all, the strong bond of queer culture and cannabis culture has remained.

While both cultures enjoy a good activism moment, we are also human beings who want to socialize, relax, create art, and find communities where we feel safe and seen.

A growing part of LGBTQIA+ social life

(Adobe)

For many queer people, cannabis usage fits closely to an ethos of living life separate from strict rules of society and the judgments of more conservative social norms. It’s part of not only how queer people unwind and relax, but in how we indulge, bond, and socialize with other queer people and with sexual and romantic partners.

Cannabis companies have taken notice too. In recent years, cannabis companies have increasingly marketed their products towards queer consumers and offered deals and special products during the Pride season.

However, the Pride-exclusive nature of many of these marketing efforts leaves much room to grow, especially when queer consumers make up such a strong market year round.

With over $5.4 trillion dollars in global purchasing power and a clear passion for cannabis, queer consumers are going to continue to grow as a priority for smart cannabis brands.

So why is cannabis so popular in queer circles?

Shared anti-establishment roots

Once upon a time, both cannabis use and queer identity were seen as immoral, outsider behavior in America. Instead of abandoning what and who they loved, many people adapted and changed the country forever.

Counterculture icons like the great beat poets of the 1950’s and the punk musicians of the 1980’s rejected traditional gender roles, sexual mores, and, of course, cannabis prohibition. As the counterculture movement grew with both LGBTQ+ people and cannabis lovers, the creative arts would play an important role in furthering the influence of queer people and cannabis enthusiasts alike.

Shaping the arts landscape

(Adobe)

Both cannabis and queer culture are linked to some of the most important art movements in American and global history.

Jazz, one of the most influential movements in American music, has a history that is rich with both queer artists and cannabis. Notable queer musicians like Tony Jackson, Gladys Bentley, Gertrude “Ma” Rainy, and Bessie Smith helped shape Jazz music.

Related

Why weed’s greatest villain hounded Billie Holiday to death

Cannabis was equally influential in Jazz, so much so that joints gained both popularity and the nickname “jazz cigarettes” through their prevalence in the scene.

On the art scene, we find more connections. Frida Kahlo, one of the most influential painters of all time, was not only a bisexual woman but also used cannabis while creating her masterpieces and for her body. The prevalence of cannabis and queerness among respected artists helped bring respect to both cannabis and queer people.

Reefer and rebellion

The 1960s saw a rise in the rebellion and self-expression that would embolden many young queer people and cannabis enthusiasts alike.

In California, the hippie movement kickstarted many underground queer magazines and pulp novels. In New York, the influential visual arts scene featured an abundance of queer art legends like Andy Warhol and David Hockney, as well as a rich cannabis culture. Queer musicians of the 1960s, like Janis Joplin, were increasingly speaking freely about their love of cannabis. The art, fashion, sound, and style found its way into the mainstream of suburbia and made a huge impact on the artistic sensibilities of a generation.

Related

7 weed strains to celebrate Pride

In the 1990’s, the Club Kids scene in New York was steeped heavily in not only the groundbreaking creativity and vibrant expression of queer artists, but also the freedom of psychoactive experimentation. The scene’s celebrities, like Ru Paul, would go on to become massive cultural figures, transcending the underground scene they originated in and influencing fashion, music and television for decades to come.

Without queer artists and the carefree, creative energy that many artists find in cannabis, visual arts, music, literature and film might not be quite as vibrant or free spirited as it is today. It was through art scenes like these that queer people were able to become icons and cannabis began to be seen as a tool for creativity instead of a vice.

(Adobe)

As we have progressed as a society, it’s (fortunately) fallen out of fashion to spend one’s time getting bent out of shape about the harmless actions of other people. In the latter half of the twentieth century, both queer life and cannabis consumption started to become less taboo.

The Hays Code, which made it illegal to show representations of queer people and of drug use in film, was repealed in the 1960s, and more queer representation made its way into the mainstream.

Increased representation helped change the public perception around LGBTQIA+ people and cannabis alike, forever shifting popular culture.

Young people today are more likely to support cannabis legalization and LGBTQ+ rights. This is in part because both queer people and cannabis users have been humanized in pop culture instead of made the butt of the joke.

With new freedom to break cultural norms and live in ways that work for them, cannabis has become just one more way that queer people are able to openly pursue a life that feels authentic and free.

(Cannaclusive)

Another reason why cannabis is so prevalent in queer culture is because many queer people find smoke sesh partners in their queer friend groups or in groups of open-minded queer allies.

This is because as queer people, both our social circles and our communal smoke circles find their roots in the very same thing: a circle of trust.

In a prohibition environment, it isn’t smart to consume cannabis with people you don’t trust. Doing so might mean exposing yourself to those who might rat you out to the authorities or otherwise disclose your stoner status in ways that might damage your public and professional standing.

Similarly, throughout history, your life could be destroyed if you were outed as gay. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, police would raid suspected LGBTQ+ bars and establishments and publish suspected queer people’s information in newspapers.

This information could destroy families and careers and lead to isolation from one’s relatives, friends, and religious community. For many queer people in conservative areas of the United States or in more conservative countries across the world, being outed can still pose a very real threat to livelihood and physical safety.

Trust is key

For generations, both the cannabis and queer community have survived only on the basis of trust. For queer people, our social groups are a place where we can explore our gender presentation, express our desires and live with dignity. They are a natural safe space for enjoying cannabis without fear of judgment or punishment.

Not all queer people enjoy cannabis. Not all queer people want to be around cannabis. Not all queer social circles are an appropriate place for cannabis. But when the two meet up, they form a unique environment where queer stoners can relax and feel safe among friends. And for queer people across the globe, that is a gift.

In conclusion: Yes, weed is gay.

Cannabis is core to queer culture. Its path to legalization and political acceptance mirrors ours. In health care, cannabis is an important wellness resource for queer people. Socially, cannabis has gone hand in hand with the way we create art, the way we relax, and the way we find comfort in a community of like-minded individuals.

(Leafly)

The story of queer people and cannabis is about more than history or medicine or art or socializing. It is also a story about survival, about community and about our will to live in ways that feel authentic and true.

If you’re queer, celebrate Pride by rolling up a joint like our forefathers, foremothers, and forepeople. If you’re an ally, smoke out your queer friends. And by the power vested in me via this byline, if you’re a homophobe, I hope someone sells you some dirty ass oregano this Pride month.

Read more about queer culture and weed

C. Merten

C. Merten is a Chicago-based writer, creative, and cannabis enthusiast. Their passions include breakfast, 70's music, pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain.

View C. Merten's articles

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November 6th, 2018 // North Node Enters Cancer - South Node Enters Capricorn // Shell-less Crabs

             One of the lesser known, or least talked about aspects in basic astrology are the lunar Nodes. We are all born with them, and.they're not planetary bodies, but mathematical points. The Moon's North and South Nodes are points, indicating where the Moon's path around Earth crosses the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the belt through which the Sun and planets appear to travel from our perspective on Earth. 

           Our personal natal Nodes can tell us a lot about our past, and future. While many aspects of a natal chart focus on personality in the now, or forever, these two points focus specifically on who you have been, and who you can be. If you are someone who believes in "past lives", the South Node gives clues as to who you may have been, and what kind of karma you carry over in this life. If you're not a believer in past lives, it can show you who you used to be in this life, or your younger self. Your North Node on the other hand gives you clues as to what sort of "destiny" you shall fulfill if you will. If you listen to your guides, follow the signs, and put in the work, your North Node is an accomplished fate, your most divine way of being, or your best self. 

             Lately, as a whole consciousness, we've been under the influence of the Lunar Nodes stationed in Leo/Aquarius. As we all have a natal chart, each progression happens to each of us in personal ways. Though often you can spot these themes appearing in and out of your life in various forms, and before you know it, everything begins being filtered through the shifts. While stationed on the Leo/Aquarius axis, the North Node called all under it's influence to stop always putting them-self last. These energies asked you perhaps to be a more authentic version of yourself, as Leo rules the self, however positive, or negative the effect on your community/those close to you. We put "groups" per-say on the back burner, and maybe even friendships. Some may have lost their identity in the groups they belonged to, forcing them to take a step back, for some "self care". Although we have seen many protests, and rally’s akin to our sisters, and brothers of the 60's and 70's, often times those who attended may have used the cause, rebellion, and group to boost them self on social media, or brag about what they were doing to change society. A downside of the Leo archetype, ego inflation. There's a balance to be found.

               The Nodes which have been stationed in Leo/Aquarius since May 9th of 2017 are about to light up with activity! They will be shifting on November 6th, 2018 into Cancer/Capricorn axis! There are many monumental shifts occurring during the first half of November, and  this is just the start! Other than shifting into a new sign, the Lunar Nodes will also be squaring Uranus, planet of shocks, surprises, and technology! Not only will these two transits shift within hours of one another, but they will both be in their respective signs, and at exactly 00:00 degrees. This energy is special, potent, and powerful, and it's headed our way! Uranus will also be fully Retrograde in the sign of Aries on this same day! I've written another article on this you can find HERE

              Uranus has been headed into a retrograde period before finally entering the sign of Taurus for good next year, 2019! Think back to May of this year for clues on what to expect once that happens fully. 

         This shift could change everything you've been doing in your life as of lately, and possibly your entire life, forever. The Lunar Nodes being so intertwined with themes of destiny, and fate, has me feeling like this change will be HUGE, and! Fated! 

             Looking at the signs the Lunar Nodes will shift into brings us into one of those good ol' fashion astrological conundrums. We will be reaching to be more Cancer-esq...while also trying to wiggle free of Capricorns stern grip. The puzzle is in Saturn, and Pluto being stationed in Capricorn. These factors nullify one another at first glance, then upon closer inspection begin to swirl, and melt into one another.           

                Cancer calls water home, and that's where it wished it could stay forever. Of the water element of the zodiac, Cancer is cardinal, Cancer flows with the ebb and flow of the tide, and climbs the silvery beams Mother Moon shines. The season for Cancer lets a warm, spicy breeze blow by, June, and July are the perfect time for swimming in the Northern Hemisphere. Water is often symbolic of feelings, and emotions, which Cancer feels with their soft insides more than they could ever let you see. Cancer is related to all things feminine, mother, nurture, home, family, spirituality, and hysteria. 

            When we examine the South Node shifting into Capricorn, we've gotta look at all of those things we need to let go of, inked in Capricorn nature. Now, as I mentioned we are still fiddling with Saturn and Pluto there, so we must find a way to keep what is valuable, let go of what is not, and integrate the jagged edges.            Capricorn is represent by the Sea Goat. The Sea Goat may have no business trying to climb towering mountains, however it must, it is it's job, and it must reach the top with honors. The Sea Goat is serious, is stern, and the course is charted with absolute precision. Chaos is not permitted in the realm of Capricorn, unless it's under hoof, and out of sight. The Sea Goat knows the rules, and suggests you follow them, in turn teaching you the path of the Sea Goat, the only way to the top. Like it's counterpart, the Cancer, the Sea Goat is skilled in occult practices. Where Cancer feels the flow, Capricorn transforms the ground the rivers flow on. Where would the river flow without the stability of ground beneath? Capricorn is related to all things masculine, power, authority figures, our fathers, our governments, our systems, structure, stability, excessive control, restriction, torture, punishment, and pain. 

           Our journey thus far with Saturn, and Pluto's placement in the sign of Capricorn have had us reviewing lessons on these topics, as well as showing us the darker underpinnings of the systems we have intact. While things have moved more slowly in these realms due to Saturn, we've had more time to observe, and really see. We've had time to really commit, and attempt to stabilize the out of control aspects in our lives, the more sinister chaos that often sits below the surface. While the Capricorn is an earth sign, it is still half fish. It's lower half has the ability to breath in the sea, and blend the experiences of Earth and Water. It is up to us to make the choice...

land or sea?  Harsh punishment, or empathy?  Control, or freedom?  Slavery, or Brotherhood?  Work or family?  Do we succeed because of what we accomplish, or are we all born equally successful, perfect?  How can we make our reality feel more like "home"? 

         On November the 6th when Retrograding Uranus Squares the Lunar Nodes, which will on the same day shift axis, something may happen out of the blue which will completely re-write whatever you have going on in your day to day. Whatever plans you may have been making, whatever goals you may have set for yourself, whatever you thought you knew... think again!

Before going any further, and just as a reminder…      A planet going “retrograde” means that, from where we are on Earth, it APPEARS to be moving backwards. The opposite of retrograde motion (or Rx for short) is direct motion. The planet is not actually moving backwards however, it is an optical illusion.  The planets are still moving forward through space, but because the planets do not revolve around Earth and Earth is also in motion, so many times throughout a year some planets appear to go backwards. In that process, it backs up over a certain range of degrees in the zodiac and ends up passing through that range three times: first forward, then backward and lastly forward again. There are also “shadow” periods as a planet begins to make these passes, and leave them. 

              At first this may only happen internally, emotionally, or even subconsciously due to Uranus in Retrograde motion. Some little pin prick of a feeling may enter your awareness...some strange feeling like nothing was the same as it was the day before. Everything can be exactly as it was, but somehow you just feel "different"..."weird"..."strange".  During shifts like this, especially with retrograde planets, I always feel some sense of deja vu, or like everything around me is somehow so surreal. It feels like being re-set in a way, or like the whole world is a piece of fiction, and I'm just watching. Until slowly the small pin prick bleeds into a new state of awareness, and I begin to take a more, and more active approach. 

           Uranus is associated with innovation, discovery, progression, rebellion, individuality, change, surprise, electricity, and technology. When Rx Uranus squares the Lunar Nodes we may see internal technology glitches, and crashes, as well as new technology being released, and marketed. We may experience technological malfunctions even in household appliances, or anything with moving parts. Similar to a Mercury Retrograde, but more radical. It's very fitting this would happen right as we approach the 5th of November! Ahaha! V from V for Vendetta is a prefect example of the kind of technology glitches which would spiral from Uranus. 

                  As the Lunar Nodes shift you may find yourself re-thinking, and re-evaluating what direction your heading. Some may quit, or leave their jobs in favor of more family time. Some may switch to working from home rather than outside of it. All will be drawn to escape the hamster wheel that is minimum wage Hell in favor of what is truly important, those who love you...your family...or the family you have chosen. Family is who's there for you, not always blood. You may try more to nurture those who you love who cannot escape the tie between work/survival. Taking on a motherly approach, packing their lunch with more care, making sure they're as comfortable as you can make them before they are in the grip of their bosses. Internally you will not be able to look away from their pain any longer, it will tug at your heart strings each time you/they have to go to their work environment where they are belittled, punished, and used. 

             There are lessons to learn in each sign of the Zodiac. There are things we can take from each sign of value, and it's not wise to throw Capricorn's structure wholly out the window. It will take the careful planning of Capricorn to reach the goals Cancer has set for us for the next 2 years. We can use Capricorn's willfulness to not waiver from our goals, and their determination to climb the summit of releasing the chains of society.     

           The Lunar Nodes will remain on the Cancer/Capricorn axis from November the 6th, 2018, until May.05.2020. 

The crab removes it's shell...and is held by the sea.

The Complete Story Of How Hip-Hop Changed The Way We Dress

https://fashion-trendin.com/the-complete-story-of-how-hip-hop-changed-the-way-we-dress/

The Complete Story Of How Hip-Hop Changed The Way We Dress

In 2002, stylist Rachel Johnson walked into a Burberry store in New York to request some clothes for a photoshoot. Her client was Ja Rule, then promoting the follow-up to his Grammy-nominated, triple-platinum album Pain is Love. It was the kind of exposure that brands generally love, but Burberry refused to help.

“They didn’t want him to wear their stuff,” Johnson later told Newsweek. “People have this stigma with the urban community.” She bought it anyway and after she draped her client in the brand’s house check, his fans did too. A few months later, Burberry sent Ja Rule a letter of thanks.

A decade and more on, the brand has a different stance on hip-hop style. It’s dressed Skepta and Nicki Minaj and recently collaborated with Chinese rapper Kris Wu. Like the rest of the fashion industry, Burberry coincidentally overcame its distaste for rap just as rap became the loudest sound on earth; in December, Nielsen research found more people listened to rap than rock for the first time. Now it’s brands like Burberry that come knocking, and rappers who rebuff them.

“With hip-hop being the de facto sound of youth and rebellion, a lot of the prominent artists – be it Beyoncé or Kanye West or ASAP Rocky – are now like, ‘Why am I giving people free press?’” says Jian DeLeon, editorial director at Highsnobiety.

Luxury logos have always been signals of success hip-hop, but rap’s explosion has shifted expectations. “They understand that they are now brands and they understand the power that their brands have. They’re not just using it to promote these symbols that they’ve made it. They know that they’ve made it.”

Ever since DJ Kool Herc’s first block parties, hip-hop has been a voice for the marginalised. Its look mattered as much as the sound, partly as an expression of self-identity, partly as shorthand for success. For those pioneering black artists who grew up amid crime and violence, whose music helped them transcend their place of birth and their lack of opportunities, European luxury brands were the original flex; a middle finger to a society that had written them off and a diamond-dripping, mink-trimmed embodiment of the American Dream for the people who bought their records.

Run DMC, 1985

True Street Wear

Rap is arguably music’s most entrepreneurial genre, obsessed with graft and hustle, status and the path up from the streets. No other sound has focused so much on starting from the bottom, perhaps because no other music has been so dominated by artists who started life at the bottom. The uniform of rock was stuff that would frighten fans’ mothers; for rap, it was clothes that backed up your bars.

Rap’s first commercial flush put its stars in financial reach of luxury, but they were still locked out by geography and race. Their focus on the grittier sides of street culture made brands wary. Biggie might big up Louis Vuitton, but its customers were white, old and didn’t want their couturier draped across an ex-drug dealer.

They were even less comfortable about selling to actual drug dealers, the only other people in Harlem in with the cash to afford them. They refused to wholesale there and made their Fifth Avenue stores as unwelcoming to young black men as possible. That inaccessibility made luxury even more covetable. So Harlem’s tailors figured out a workaround.

Do The Right Thing – Bill Nunn, 1989

The go-to was Dapper Dan, born Daniel Day, a haberdasher who would import bootlegged fabrics or screen-print logos onto luxury leather, then turn them into one-of-a-kind, street-inflected pieces like oversized bomber jackets and fur-trimmed coats. His clothes weren’t the copies of runway fashion you find on eBay; they were unique, hand-crafted and often more expensive than the originals. Particularly if you wanted something you’d never find in Fendi, like a parka with bulletproof panels, or hidden stash pockets.

“Dapper Dan has a term for what he did in the 1980s: ‘blackinize fashion’,” says Rachel Lifter, assistant professor of fashion studies at Parsons School of Design. His clothes embodied street culture and the needs and wants of people who were young and rich, but locked out of the things enjoyed by young, rich, white people. “He drew on a long legacy of black style as both a form of self-realisation and a statement of political-aesthetic resistance.”

Day defined hip-hop style for a decade – oversized, influenced by sportswear as much as luxury tailoring and designed to make sense in the street. It was clothing infused with swagger and for a rapper on the up-and-up, copping a Dapper Dan was a sign you’d made it.

“Rappers have always liked fashion and fashion for the longest time didn’t want to speak to that audience because it felt like it might have hurt the integrity of the brand,” says DeLeon. “[In Dapper Dan] they found someone who understood them, what their needs were and who spoke the same language.”

His creations appeared on album covers, red carpets and heavyweight champions – Mike Tyson commissioned a jacket with ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’ embroidered on the back before a 1988 title fight. Lawyers noticed (Tyson brawling outside Day’s store at five in the morning didn’t help). By the early 90s, Dapper Dan had been sued out of existence.

Mike Tyson with his Dapper Dan “Don’t Believe the Hype” jacket

The Evolution Of Hip-Hop Style

His demise coincided with rap’s toughening up and a shift in style to something more authentic. Rappers were also tiring of luxury’s knockbacks. When the Wu Tang Clan launched its own brand, Wu Wear, a generation of artists realised that they could control what they promoted and how they were rewarded.

They turned rejection into a statement of intent, creating clothes for fans who, like them, were at best only ever endured by the establishment. Like their music, their clothes reflected reality. The Wu Tang uniform of baggy jeans, baseball jackets and Timberlands was what you wore if, like them, you had an FBI file thicker than Crime and Punishment.

“You had the rise of so-called urban fashion,” says DeLeon. “You had Sean John by Diddy, Wu Wear. You had a lot of labels being started specifically by rappers who saw this gap in the market that was essentially, ‘Alright, fashion brands won’t speak to our listeners and to our audience, so let’s create something that’s authentically of that world.’”

As well as clothes, they launched their own drinks and cigars, sick of the tepid reception they received from brands who were happy to reap sales from their products appearing in rap videos, but still wanted to keep the rappers at arm’s length. “If Courvoisier or Moët won’t co-sign these rappers,” says DeLeon, “then why don’t they just start their own businesses and use their platform to promote their own products?”

Top: RZA, Pharrell Bottom: Dapper Dan, Sean Combs

Then came Pharrell. As N.E.R.D. turned the urban music technicolour, Pharrell gave hip-hop style new notes – skate, Japanese streetwear, punk. He created a world in which Kanye West could rock a backpack and pink polo and still outsell 50 Cent.

“There was this shift from a hive mind mentality of style toward a championing of individuality,” says DeLeon. “That’s what actually helped propel a lot of the fashion and style paradigm forward.” Pharrell fomented the environment in which Young Thug can wear dresses, Lil Uzi Vert can rep Gosha Rubchinskiy at the Grammys, and still feel part of the same movement. After Pharrell, hip-hop style lost its consistency, but it found its voice.

As rap climbed the charts, it lost its outsider status. Its biggest artists displaced pop stars, then became pop stars. Now, any rapper with an advance in their pocket could buy as much Fendi as they liked. Get on Spotify’s Rap Caviar and Louis Vuitton would probably send them a sack of clothes to wear on Instagram. “Luxury brands have woken up to a reality in which rappers are dominating the cultural conversation,” says Christopher Morency, editorial associate at Business of Fashion. Brands either get on board, or get left behind.

DeLeon cuts rap fashion into two eras: before and after Pharrell. If clothing had previously been about affiliation, now it was about knowledge as well. Those old markers of success, stripped of their exclusivity, were replaced by something more nuanced. Gucci and Louis still got their props (it helps that both rhyme easily) but now, Jay Z was namechecking Margiela. In 2015, ASAP Rocky devoted an entire song to Raf Simons.

Top: Jay-Z, Kanye West Bottom: Stormzy, ASAP Rocky

“When Rocky says ‘Rick Owens, Raf Simons, usually what I’m dressed in,’ [on ‘Peso’] it really a marked shift towards new, younger rappers understanding the importance of cultivating a really unique [approach to] fashion,” says DeLeon. “It wasn’t just about going in and getting the gaudiest shit possible. It was about understanding composition, nuance, and the overall appeal of the designers.”

The Life Of Abloh

Among the first rappers to pop up on fashion week’s front rows were ASAP Rocky and Kanye, artists who’d championed the interesting and esoteric from the outset and who made fashion an integral part of their identity. They opened the doors to true collaboration between brands and artists – two-way communication in which the tastes of the trendsetters inform what comes out of the atelier.

In 2016, ASAP Rocky became the first black face to front Dior Homme, but the campaign was about more than a luxury house chasing relevancy. “The relationship between [at the time] Dior Homme creative director Kris van Assche and Rocky dates back many years,” says Morency. “It was Rocky who gravitated to Dior Homme at first, not the other way around.”

From a standing start, fashion has entered into a deeply symbiotic relationship with rap. In the last two years, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Saint Laurent have all released rap-fronted campaigns, part of a move to woo younger shoppers as their existing audience greys out.

“The new luxury consumer is Millennials and Gen Z,” says Morency. “By 2025, they’ll account for 45 per cent of the global personal luxury goods market. Luxury brands will have to embrace rappers if they want any credibility with that generation, but it needs to be authentic.”

For anyone interested in fashion, this is all good news. Hip-hop is the most creative movement in music and its attitude to boundaries has crossed over into our wardrobes. The elevation of streetwear, the mashing of high with low and the move towards genderless fashion can all be attributed, in various ways, to what rappers are wearing right now.

That cultural shift has also propelled Virgil Abloh to the top spot at Louis Vuitton, where he’s become the first black designer to helm a major luxury house. His roots in rap are inarguable and he brings to fashion a true sense of how street culture and high fashion intersect. Through his own brand, Off-White, he’s also helped black designers shake off the assumption that they only make ‘streetwear’.

Virgil Abloh and Kanye West at the Louis Vuitton SS19 runway show

“Streetwear has for some time served as a label through which the fashion industry can read blackness,” says Lifter. She points to Public School co-founder Maxwell Osborne, who in Sacha Jenkins’ rap-fashion documentary, Fresh Dressed, railed against how automatically the label was applied. “Our last design job was at Sean Jean under Puffy,” he says. “So I think when we started Public School it was automatically [considered] a streetwear brand – ‘you’re in this box’ – and I was like, ‘No, that’s not what we’re doing.’”

By challenging perceptions of what rappers wear and what black designers create, these artists force society to rethink what black art looks like, says Lifter. “They’re in different ways expanding how blackness can be represented in editorials and campaigns, performed within music videos and cover art, and materialised through new collections.”

For now, the brands are happy to help. Head to Gucci’s website today, and you’ll find a capsule collection, designed in collaboration with Dapper Dan, that recreates his most famous pieces. This year, Gucci even set Day up with a new shop in Harlem, stocked with exclusive (and heavily monogrammed) fabrics, so that he could kit out a new generation of rap royalty.

Dapper Dan x Gucci

The hook-up seemed partly an apology. A year earlier, Gucci debuted a note-for-note remake of a jacket Day made for Olympic sprinter Diane Dixon. The only difference? Day’s bootlegged Louis Vuitton logos had been usurped by Gucci’s interlocking Gs. Cue social media uproar, a reach-out from one designer to another and, a few months later, a Dapper Dan-fronted Gucci ad campaign. The bootlegger, now bootlegged, was back. But the style he’d created had never left.

7 Seminal Hip-Hop Looks & How To Wear Them Today

Run DMC and My Adidas

Run DMC, 1987

Hip-hop’s early years looked not all that dissimilar to now – big trainers and head-to-toe tracksuits. The music was brewed in b-boy culture, where sportswear the go-to because it was perfect for breakdancing. Run-DMC were the look’s biggest proponents, immortalising their favourite brand in ‘My Adidas’. After three stripes’ execs caught a Madison Square Garden performance in which fans all raised their sneakers on cue, Run-DMC earned an unheard-of million-dollar endorsement deal.

How to wear it now: Verbatim – the tracksuit look’s back and pairing an Adidas two-piece with a pair of Stan Smiths looks as good now as it did then. Just lose the jewellery and Kangol.

Adidas Originals

Black Consciousness

Public Enemy, 1988

In the late 80s, artists like KRS-One and Public Enemy coupled their anti-government, anti-police stance to a rising strain of black nationalism. They introduced traditional African clothing and references to their wardrobes – sportswear in red, green and black, beaded jewellery and kufis, paired with the military fatigues of the Black Panthers.

How to wear it now: Unless you’re black and looking to rep your cultural history – don’t. White guys in dreadlocks and dashikis are the worst kind of cultural appropriation. If you are, then it’s about mixing traditional African clothing with streetwear, or try embellishing military jackets with pan-African patches. For an elevated take, look to British designer Grace Wales-Bonner, whose clothes are like a wearable thesis on African history.

Wales-Bonner Spring 2019 Collection

Dapper Dan

Dapper Dan with LL Cool J, 1986

The Harlem tailor who dressed every 80s rapper that mattered, his creations are immortalised on the covers of Eric B & Rakim’s Paid in Full and Follow the Leader, as well as Salt-n-Pepa’s Icon. “Hip-hop was all about sampling, re-discovering old funk and soul records to flip into something new and fresh,” says stylist Chris Tang. “Dapper Dan applied those same methods to fashion.”

How to wear it now: You can do so literally, if you’ve got a few grand spare, by picking up something from the Gucci capsule collection. If not, think cut-and-paste. “Dapper Dan created these outlandish pieces using the iconic monograms,” says Tang, “then applied them in a way these fashion houses didn’t think to do at the time.” Echo him by going luxuriously logo mad – Fendi on Louis on Gucci on Chanel.

Dapper Dan x Gucci

Lo-Life

Lo-Life Crew

In the early 80s, Ralph Lauren marketed its Polo brand as the uniform of WASPS – wealthy, white guys who weekended on their yacht. But its exclusivity had an unintentional effect on hip-hop style. “The Stadium collection enticed the black and latino community all over the US,” says Tang. “The infamous Lo-Life gang became notorious for stealing large amounts of Polo clothing from department stores.”

How to wear it now: “In 1994, Raekwon wore the Snow Beach windbreaker, which earned it its stripes within hip-hop culture,” says Tang. Ralph Lauren wasn’t pleased about it at the time, but has since re-released the collection, as well as a CP-93 America’s Cup capsule, another favourite of the Lo-Heads.

Ralph Lauren Limited Edition Polo Stadium Collection

Hardcore

Straight Outta Compton, 2015

While New York was going big on fur and luxury labels, in LA, NWA stuck to a utilitarian uniform that reflected their sound – black jeans, white tees and hometown baseball caps. They were also big on athletic wear – coach and baseball jackets (often with the Oakland Raiders logo emblazoned on the back), topped off with gold chains as thick as your arm.

How to wear it now: bar the sagged, baggy jeans, everything else in NWA’s look has been reanimated by the 90s revival. Just keep away from costume by losing the Raiders logos, and maybe think dad cap rather than flat peak.

Hood By Air SS14 Backstage

Pharrell Brings East To West

Pharrell Williams

When it seemed every rapper was shilling their own, uninspired fashion label, Pharrell blew apart what hip hop style looked like. In large part that was thanks to his embrace of Japanese brands, particularly A Bathing Ape. “It introduced flamboyant camo print hoodies, rare Bapte-sta trainers and limited silk screen T-shirts,” says Tang. “The idea of a collector’s item and high price point made many people see the brand as something covetable. It was the start of luxury streetwear.”

How to wear it now: Bape’s lost its lustre, after an aggressive expansion stripped it of exclusivity. But Japan remains a hotbed of American-influenced, luxury streetwear brands. As well as OGs like Undercover and Neighbourhood, look to the likes of Wacko Maria, Sasquatchfabrix and Cav Empt, who offer modern spins on hip-hop silhouettes.

WACKO MARIA Spring/Summer 2018 Collection

Kanye Reinvents The Sneaker Game

Kanye West in Yeezy

Kanye West has spent most of his career complaining that he’s not taken seriously as a designer, and while his first attempts at high fashion bombed, with Yeezy he’s become a model for the kind of power and influence rappers can have over fashion and, more importantly, business. Before Kanye, rappers were lucky to be paid to wear a brand’s clothes. Now, they’re at the controls.

How to wear it now: The Yeezy look is all about mixing high and low fashion – a hoodie with a tailored overcoat, trainers with slim-fit jeans. He’s been instrumental in elevating streetwear into something that can be worn anywhere. So, do.

Yeezy show, New York Fashion Week AW16

Love Requires Courage

Friends, love, actual love is the bravest and most courageous thing you can do in this life. To love is to allow vulnerability. And because we can never control the other person (though evil people try to), the beloved is granted by us (and we can take that permission back when it it health to do so), the POWER TO BREAK OUR HEART. Not destroy or obliterate, but to profoundly wound us. This comes in the form of rejection, abandonment, betrayal, disrespect, contempt and so forth.

Love, if it has any maturity to it at all, knows that vulnerability and trust can mean profound pain if the other person disrespects, violates, etc that trust and offer for close relationship. Love invites IN. This is a risky and messy business. But love seeks authentic connection, transparency. As as I've said in several other writings, this is a mess because we have broken places inside us. Different people are at different levels of wholeness/brokenness.

Some are a morass of self-contradiction or rabid self-gratification. Some are out to hurt and intentionally betray everyone they encounter because of a deep bitterness and self-protectiveness that stabs the other person FIRST, believing it will always be stabbed in love. It spans the entire spectrum.

I already have several writings on how DISRUPTIVE actual love is to any heart, because the very exposure that genuine love involves includes exposing the shameful/guilty parts within. So this is why YOU CAN ONLY LOVE TO THE DEGREE YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED AND INTERALIZED GRACE. Otherwise your brokenness, shame and guilt will COMPEL you to sabotage real love (vulnerability, intimacy, transparency) because it is far too risk – deeply threatening to a wounded self and any parts of identity that are mired in shame.

Our culture has developed this thing they call “psychology” and within that they have terms like 'codependency' and 'addiction'. But a psychological perspective is superficial and incomplete when addressing what is actually a spiritual issue. You see everything we are designed for (love, belonging, security, adventure, purpose, meaning, etc.) is rooted in SPIRIT. You cannot heal a spiritual wound with psychological trappings. So, suffice it to say that you cannot not need what you actually were designed to need. You are who you are, even if you resist, deny or attack that truth; it remains just as true as ever.

If you are not ENGAGING with God, entrusting your heart, conversing and responding to God’s heart, then you are not being healed or transformed, you’re literally of the path and sabotaging your own heart, your destiny as an intimate ally with God who is deeply and unstoppable committed to restoring the entire universe back into glorious alignment with Himself, and has a unique role for YOU to play in that process.

But I brought up our needs, and identified them as essentially spiritual far more than they are psychosocial, so that… I could say this: you are either turning TO God, engaging in the struggle to love God back and LET yourself be deeply touched, intimately resorted, and made into an outrageous lover, untamed by society…. OR you are in bondage to addiction(s). You see, EVERY addiction that psychology love to talk about, is our fleshly attempt to find MERE RELIEF in some love-substitute, rather than honestly turn TO God for our deepest needs.

At any given moment, your heart is either moving: towards, away or against God. And this, this choice, this heart-stance, is what determines EVERYTHING about your life and future. This is simply beyond the pale of mere psychology, but this heart-stance means everything, friends! We can go through dozens of heart-stances towards God in a day, but the dominant one we doggedly CHOOSE to be, is what determines how restored (sanctified) we get and how much intimacy with God we enjoy throughout eternity. It means everything.

The Gospel is the story of real love coming into our MESS, our brokenness as the result of our rebellion, our failed attempts at a vicious and fierce self-sufficiency. God sees that our heart is DEAD and utterly incapable of love or of responding back to the God of love and life. A dead person does not need a psychology upgrade, and the dead cannot begin to pretend they can self-help. No, God gives HIS VERY LIFEBLOOD into your dead spirit to BE THE LIFE you’ve always needed but been painfully disconnected from. God takes you from existential alienation and angst, into SONSHIP, resurrection, restoration! You see, IN LOVE, God was not willing to leave us in this disastrous state of hopeless unresponsiveness to His love. He intervened. He came through for you. And Father did that in and through Jesus, personally for you but also for all of humanity.

The ultimate CORE thing about you, your design, is for you to RESPOND BACK to a perfect Father. To ENJOY God for who He truly is. A heart that is free to give/receive Father’s love, safely trusting in the reliable goodness (deep security and wholeness) that God is ALWAYS GOOD towards them without fail. So, when talking about courageous love, it comes down to the Faith-Choice to deeply TRUST that God is indeed GOOD. He will never abandon/reject/betray/backstab us if we give ourselves over to Him, His wise will, His instructions. This is the most profound choice and the primary choice we exist on Earth to make – will we trust God to be who he revealed Himself to be, or will we fail to trust and fall back into fear, compensations and protection schemes, into a false outer shell of a self that tries to find life OUTSIDE of this heart-connection to our Heavenly Father. This is the EXACT connection that Jesus repeatedly proclaimed that He is and that he freely offers.

We have to TRUST THE HEART of Father God, and Jesus who he sent as His Son, His IDEAL representative to convey that the Father wants you to COME HOME to His heart, and Jesus is the condemnation-remover because of his selfless blood-sacrifice as the spotless, innocent, atoning Lamb of God. Apart from God, our hearts cannot be anything but insecure, and often in our brokenness we compensate with that for a fierce outer shell of independence. We fear being needy, being vulnerable, in case we don’t get love/belonging/acceptance/validation in this core wound within.

So love is ALWAYS RISKY. Because in real love the other person is always free to turn you down or turn you away. This is why love is so unpopular, even though pop music glorifies fake love at the very same time. That’s why I started this with saying that actual love is the most profoundly courageous thing any person can do.

Given the risk of being misunderstood, taken advantage of, taken for granted, and worse... the world looks at God's love as says, "Are you crazy! I'm never gonna set myself up for that! I'll settle for manipulating and using people, and keep my heart at a safe distance, because anything else is looking like sheer pain to me!" But the fruit of that kind of self-protection is deadness. ONLY the bold get to enter into actual love, for love is that vulnerability that SEEMS weak (even helpless and appears shameful to our self-sufficiency programming) but is actually the ultimate place of COURAGE.

So all these notions of “walking away” fro people at any pain, failure, rejection can be correctly identified as well-meaning "wisdom from below." And you get many posts these days advising you to 'walk away' if the other person ever does this or that and you feel wronged. This wisdom from below is the OPPOSITE of God, who is our "wisdom from above."

Remember God is the UNREASONABLY GOOD SHEPERD who leaves to secure sheep safely in the sheepfold, to venture into dangerous terrirory, filled with predators to RESCUE a single lost sheep. God is trying to show us His LOVE – how deeply His heart wants to be involved in RESTORING (nor merely relieving immediate pain through coping behaviors) YOUR HEART.

I cannot shut up about this verse. It changed me! Here I saw that DAVID TRULY GOT IT – he got past all the religious dogma to the HEART of the Father and it set Him FREE and made him into a very passionate lover. David expressing this, HELPED ME see that God is INDEED saying his mission is to set hearts free, to love them into freedom and wholeness, to instruct them into the paths of the maximum aliveness. It DESTROYED my creeping doubts that I might be in wishful thinking or that the Gospel is nor really that personal or that good. I CANNOT DENY the amazing love, and David clearly attesting to it, here, he said it TOO clearly to deny any longer! That helped my own faith. If David FOUND THIS RELATIONSHIP with God like joy, like leaping, like intimacy and partnership, then yes it is TRUE. God IS INDEED offering the same to my heart and life! I can not fall back into PRETENDING God loves me less than this. Here is the verse that hit me like a ton of bricks, shattering my faithless tendency to slip back into a “reluctant” stance towards God in the “wisdom from below.”

“I LOVE to run in the paths of Your commands, God, for YOU have SET MY HEART FREE.” - Psalm 119:32

Jesus is our personal possibility of joy, wholeness, and a deep love and faithful freedom. You either doggedly choose to RESPOND BACK to that, or opt for a worldly-wisdom approach of reasonable self-protection that DESTROYS the very joy, wholeness, love and faithfulness you were created to participate in at God’s SIDE, in loving and intimate partnership.

Realizing all this – the mess of our wounds, our coping methods, our addictions, how I am wired for real love or fall into awful addictions to substitute for love, our deep longing for faithful love, for a secure belonging, the desperation of others around us and so forth – all this, how do we love WISELY?

If LOVE is the measure of our lives and the standard by which we are judged, the love – the full participation, the freely giving and receive of love – means EVERYTHING.

UM Interview: Mother Mother

Canadian Indie Rock band Mother Mother have made their imprint in the Canadian music industry. With over a decade in the music industry, the band have carved their own unique niche in the industry, leaving with them a sense of indivdiduality and awe. Last month, the band recently released their latest record ‘No Culture’. Of ‘No Culture’ Singer Ryan Guldemond commented "No Culture is about something that a lot of us wrestle with in isolation - identity". Amandah Opoku sat down with Ryan to go into more depth about ‘No Culture’, upcoming tour dates and more! Check out the interview below!

Amandah Opoku: Hello Mother Mother, thank you for sitting down with us! Before we kick off this interview, what is your favourite song on radio? Ryan Guldemond: Currently I’ve been really enjoying “Hands To Myself” by Selena Gomez.  I love the super dry, loud whisper vocal performance, and the production itself is very crisp and spacious.  I can turn it up loud without things becoming brash. I do appreciate when radio tracks achieve size in sparsity. Oh yeah, and the guitar part is killer - very sweet and melancholic, which is my favourite emotional convergence in music. AO: Of the songs that have been released within the last year, what are your favourite lyrics you’ve heard that you wish you had written? RG: There’s this line in a Zola’s song called Swooner that’s pretty clever: “That incandescent girl of Incan descent”. Maybe too clever, but it made me smile, and ponder.  I like punchlines that are at once both humorous and thought provoking, driven by word play.  

AO: You recently released your album ‘No Culture’ what was the inspiration behind the albums creation? RG: I was inspired by a personal transition I was making at the time from debauchery to clean living. In doing so I uncovered how deeply I identified with the former accompanying persona, so themes of identity and authenticity are strong in No Culture, often centering around loss, grief and nostalgia. The title itself was born from this experience: the shedding of culture, or societal affectation as a means to become a truer version of yourself.   AO: How did the studio and writing process for ‘No Culture’ differ from your last album ‘Very Good Bad Thing’? RG: There was more emphasis on the songwriting. I spent a lot of time with our producers down in LA writing, and fine tuning the architecture of each song before we even began recording. It was important that every motif, beat, lyric, texture was “perfect” in that they supported the core identity of each song, and the album as a whole. Nothing was for the sake of itself. Once the songs were ready, the recording was quick and clear. That was a new methodology for us, coming into the studio with an almost paint by numbers approach. Everything was laid out, we just had to connect the dots. AO: Writing and working on this record, did you ever encounter a period or moment of uncertainty? How did you overcome this? RG: The writing process was riddled with uncertainty. The confidence I lost by changing my lifestyle spilled into the creative process, and I began to judge my output severely, effectively creating a condition of good old fashion writer’s block.  But I just worked through it. Kept churning out ideas until the kernels of gold started to appear. Bad ideas, or mediocrity is crucial in the mining of the good stuff. They clear a path for unfiltered, raw creativity to travel through. That was a big lesson in all of this: discovering, or reaffirming that the cure for stagnancy is simply the act of doing. It could be anything. Beat your head against a wall until it takes on a pleasing rhythm. Then start singing over top of it. Before you know it, you’ll have an album’s worth of material. If it’s a shitty album, don’t record it. Just keep beating your head against that wall and gradually things will improve. AO: Of ‘No Culture’ what are you most proud of? RG: I think of how honest it is, and how uncomfortable it was and still is to be that honest, and how that signifies change and evolution. I can easily look back at old writing and think, I miss that devilish irony and sardonic bent. But to do that again would be disingenuous, and easier. So I guest I’m proud that I took the harder path in creating a new body of work, speaking from a new voice, even though I wasn't entirely used to its timbre. AO: Of the sounds on your latest album ‘No Culture’ were there any particular musicians or artists that influenced the sounds/direction of the album? RG: I don’t know about specific musicians, but we were definitely inspired by certain production aesthetics, like the simple and visceral quality of hip hop beats and the lush and dreamy synth-scapes of the 80s. AO: What was the biggest challenge you encountered working on ‘No Culture’? RG: Digging up the themes and finding its sentimental identity. I really didn’t want to write 10 songs about various things that were unrelated to each other. It was crucial that this body of work meant something, had a purpose, and acted as a whole. Considering the shaky place from where I started, this was a challenging and daunting prospect. But somehow it found its shape and its voice. And there really wasn’t an A-ha! moment or grand epiphany. It happened over time, of its own volition. AO: In essence, what does ‘No Culture’ represent to you? Is it a statement? Almost, an act of rebellion? RG: To me No Culture represents peace in aloneness. Finding the acceptance of yourself without imposed identity. So yes, it’s a statement. We are suggesting that this a good practice, and by doing so we are criticizing the way so many of us cling to our identification tags, be them cultural, societal, professional, religious etc, in order to feel validated, superior, and as though we belong. Culture of course can be a beautiful thing, adding texture to the human condition, but when it becomes the source of divisiveness, war and oppression, then we lose the very thing which it aims to celebrate, and the one thing we all have in common, humanity. AO: Why should somebody stream or pick up ‘No Culture’ off the CD shelf? RG: That’s an interesting question. It begs a solicitous response, which is hard for me. Someone from the label would give a much better answer, but I should try my best here. I’m not sure I think anyone “should” do anything with our record, but I suppose if someone was looking for a type of music with an emphasis on melody, vocal harmony, lyrical depth and big production, than No Culture would be a good contender. I feel like this album is visceral first, then cerebral. You can listen to it and react physically and emotionally without dissection. But should one crave a more intellectual experience, that is also available within the lyricism and thematics. Someone recently described the album as a trojan horse to a deeper experience. I liked that. AO: In this digital age of streaming where music fans can now consume immediately thanks to apps such as Spotify, Pandora and Tidal to name a few. What are your thoughts on streaming? Do you think they’ve been a positive or negative effect to the music industry? RG: I guess both, but to be honest I start to snooze when this topic comes up at the dinner table. For whatever reason I can’t seem to care about how the music industry evolves or devolves. But I guess streaming is something that’s still somewhat anarchic, cuz people aren’t getting paid and whatnot, but I assume that will work itself out. They’ll figure out how to monetize this digital shitstorm of free entertainment and I can see that being a very good thing. Not necessarily for the industry, in a capitalistic sense, but for humanity, and the balance of things. I don’t think anyone should be walking around with squillions of dollars. Not for doing anything, but especially not for making music. I think celebrity and rich-people culture is kind of unhealthy for the human collective consciousness, so anything to topple those pedestals I believe to be a good thing in the grand scheme of it all. AO: You’ve been a band for well over a decade, what’s one thing you learned as a band that you wish you had known when you first began? RG: I wish we were better at branding in the start. Understanding what the Mother Mother experience was, and reinforcing that in every aspect of the band, be it music, art, wardrobe, sentiment, philosophy. I think we could still get better at that, but in thinking about it now, it’s not really something someone tells you and bam, you’re good at it. It takes time for identity and cohesion within a group to form. I’d also tell myself to write more. Just fucking write, write, write little buddy. Don’t divide life from art. Meld the two, and write songs about it. But this the same thing I’m telling myself today, and will be telling myself in 50 years. AO: Going back to your bands roots, when it comes to finding a name for a creative or collection it’s often a process. Mother Mother may have not been the name you arrived to initially and maybe it’s meaning to you has changed over the years. Today in 2017, what does the band name mean to you? RG: Well we were originally just Mother, and I called us that because this guy at college wouldn’t shut up about how great of a band name that would hypothetically be. His fervour became mine I guess. So it didn’t really mean anything in the beginning. Then we had to change our name because there were other bands called Mother. So we un-inventively called ourselves Mother Mother. So that didn't really mean anything either. What does it mean today? I really couldn’t tell ya. I guess it’s just the name of our band. AO: Besides music, what are your hobbies? RG: I like cooking and taking photos, Jasmin loves yoga, Molly likes crafting, Ali is a big soccer buff and Mike, the new guy… hmm.  Tattoos? Could that be a hobby? He’s got a body suit, so he’s running out of room. Gonna have to find a new hobby. AO: In support of ‘No Culture’ you are currently on your Canadian tour followed by some recently announced dates with KONGOS, what can fans expect from you on the tour? RG: Tons of energy, a very tight set which draws upon our entire catalogue, a couple of very masculine covers sung by the girls, inane and existential stage banter, a drum solo. We definitely take pride in making a proper show of it. I feel like there’s an art to crafting the perfect set, with a contour not unlike that of a story book. You can expect to be taken for a ride when you see us live. AO: Thank you for sitting down with us Mother Mother! Before we end this interview, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans, your supporters? RG: Thanks for employing us!

Connect with Mother Mother on the following websites: https://twitter.com/mothermother https://facebook.com/MotherMotherBook https://instagram.com/mothermothermusic https://youtube.com/mothermothermusic