Okay, so I just watched Alfonso Cuaron's 2006 jump off, Children of Men, again, for maybe the fourth time last night and had a couple of thoughts:
1. The DVD, which I think is a no-brainer for any thoughtful person's collection has a couple of nice added features: an inside look on the actual production(how Cuaron shot a couple of his amazing extra long takes-the opening bombing sequence and the car scene); and some commentary by one of my favorite contemporary philosophers, Slavof Zizek, who I could listen to all day- if you are ever bored youtube that bitch, I swear you will not regret it.
2. When COM debuted everyone was on Cuaron's dick for using imagery from the photos that leaked out documenting the torture at Abu Ghraib in Iraq circa 2004. I was on that bandwagon, too. Americans and Europeans needed to be reminded of what our shady governments are up to to protect "our" safety and "their" international interests. I also thought that the director was very tactful in placing the shots of dark skinned, hooded men in various uncomfortable posses, being intimidated by dogs, and so on and so forth in the background as Kee and Theo are being bused in to the Bexhill detention center for refugees- psychologically, we tend to marginalize uncomfortable issues to the periphery.
Last night however, I was more struck by percieved similarities between
The Bexhill refugee camp and the Gaza strip. Now the Gaza strip is not technically a detention center, but for all extensive purposes is- one of the most important, or the most important precipitating factors to the most recent Gaza Israel confrontation was the blockade of the Gaza territories by the Israeli and Egyptian governments. I wonder if the Fish Terrorist in Children of Men used Tunnels to bypass security, too. Unfortunately, Cuaron's depection of the one-sided confrontation between the uprising and the British Government in the Bexhill probably as representative as anything we will ever see in terms of what the fighting was like between the Israeli Military and the Palestenians, Israel was very methodolical about combing out any foreign press in the weeks prior to the assault, hermetically sealing the conflict from the worlds eyes. We can only infer from the reported casualties, 1000 Gazans (400 of which were women and children) to 20 Israeli how shit went down. I may be tripping, but I found that portion of the movie illuminating in terms what the fighting might have been like in the Gaza Strip for whatever the hell that is worth.
WORDS!!!
So anyway, the London Review of Book Solicited the opinions of various academics, John Mearshiemer and Rashid Khalidi included, in response to Gaza. If you are interested what caused the Gaza conflict, how the war went down, and what the future has in store for Palestinians Israeli Relations you will find these two articles, which are not that long and very readable, edifying to say the least.
Israel's Lies, H. Siegman
LRB contributors react to events in Gaza
MUSIC!!!
So here are a couple of tracks off a mixtape, Fear and Loathing in Hunts Vegas, that has been in very heavy rotation on my ipoop. The Album itself is to promote a joint venture, Paper Route Records, between to of my very favorite producers, Diplo and DJ Benzi, so you know the beats are trunk rattling heavy and the samples are creative as fuck. The rappers are a bunch of dudes from Alabama, who all flows as syrupy as sweet tea and think they have something to contribute what has already been said about the dirty dirty.
Bama Getting Money (Diplo Remix) - PRGz
Stuntastic - Blaqstarr feat. Jhi-Ali
Grind Baby - X.O.
Albama - Jhi-Ali feat. Cooley Da Dude and Big P.O.P.E
So if you feel these songs feel free to down load them individually above or hit up this link to the Maddecent website, you can download the mix for whatever donation you see fit (nudge nudge, wink wink).
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