Tag Archives: pop culture

Now You Can Own A Sasha Ivanic Jacket

The origin story of the quintessential “Slav” outfit…

A True Story Goes to Hollywood

Here is another fine article via friends at kommandostore.com- you can find your size and place your order here. In 1995, pilot Scott O’Grady was flying his F-16 on a mission during the Bosnian war, when his aircraft was destroyed by an SA-6 Missile.

SA-6/ 2K12 SAM surface to air missile launcher.

He survived by successfully ejecting from the aircraft, but was forced to spend nearly a week evading local military forces before he could be rescued by US Marines.

He wasn’t approached to consult on the making of Behind Enemy Lines, nor was he paid for the rights to his story. As one could imagine, lawsuits ensued and “Behind Enemy Lines” would later be presented as the story of a different person in a very similar set of circumstances…

Behind Enemy Lines, 2001

This action flick featured Owen Wilson playing Chris Burnett, a pilot who gets shot down over Bosnia on a reconnaissance mission. He ejects, but that’s only where his problems begin.

The lieutenant spends the rest of the film evading an extremely dangerous lone-wolf sharpshooter and the rest of the Bosnian-Serb military.

Almost immediately upon release, the movie was a cult-hit among firearms & military enthusiasts in the US. The main antagonist, Sasha Ivanic was in many ways the focal point of this obsession.

Sasha’s iconic track jacket became an “it item” among collectors, but it was nowhere to be found…

Stealing The Show

Ultimately the film’s legacy hasn’t been kind to its hero. Sasha Ivanic is such cool villain that despite having almost no lines, he completely steals the show.

Vladmir Mashkov, the actor playing Sasha, left such a lasting impression on audiences that he shaped Eastern European villains and anti-heros for years to come.

The protagonist of Grand Theft Auto IV, Niko Bellic, was based almost entirely on Sasha — Rockstar Games even intended to cast him for the role. GTA IV would go on to be one of the most celebrated video games in history, firmly cementing post-USSR “Slav” culture in the minds of millions.

Finding The Fit

Like many white whales we’ve chased, it all started with blurry photos circulating on obscure forums and social media pages. But try as we might, the search for the Sasha jacket always came up dry.

So, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. We went frame by frame through the original movie, painstakingly made our own artwork and mockups, and designed our track jacket from the ground up.

Why Sarajevo?

The 1984 Olympics in context

The Boycott Games

The Olympic games during the Cold War were notorious for boycotts organized by dozens of countries up through the 1980s.

Melbourne ’56, Tokyo ’64, Canada ’76, and particularly the Moscow Olympics in 1980 were all mired in international politics.

But in 1984, for the winter Olympics in Yugoslavia, there was a distinct (and welcome) lack of boycotts.

As a result the Sarajevo games had highest rate of participation of any Olympics during the Cold War. Unfortunately this moment of hope and unity was short-lived.

Civil war would divide Yugoslavia less than a decade later.

The Siege of Sarajevo

The siege of Sarajevo featured prominently in the opening chapters of the Bosnian war, and the brand-new Olympic facilities were caught in the crossfire.

As the battle intensified, Bosnian-Serbs famously dug in on the Bobsled/Luge track and used it as an artillery stronghold. To this day, you can still see firing ports drilled into the concrete.

The former olympic village was never redeveloped, and remains in ruins to this day…

…Just A Theory?

By late 2001, the Former-Soviet-Bloc countries were still in disarray, and ‘War On Terror’ was in full-swing.

In this post 9/11 world, films about the horrors of the Vietnam war, or the spy games of the Cold War just didn’t resonate. So, the way action movie antagonists were written had to evolve…

Real-world unknowns and fears drive how we write stories; whether it’s a humanitarian crisis inspiring movies about invading aliens from outer space, or zombies representing our fears around epidemics & disease.

Villains like Sasha Ivanic embodied this new era of guerilla tactics and hazy or mysterious motivations. Much like the terrorist groups feared by the public, there was no telling what they’d do next, or why.

Sasha’s Jacket begged some unknowns: Could Sasha have been an Olympian at Sarajevo? What was he really fighting for, or for whom? We never found out, but it’s part of what makes him so frightening and believable.

Sasha’s Legacy

Going on to inspire Anti Heros like Nico Bellic in GTA would be one thing, but he was certainly part of a larger trend of iconic Eastern European villains.

The Ivan Dragos of cinema were slowly replaced with the Vladimir Makarovs of video games, and with the re-opening of closed wounds constantly in Eastern Europe, Sasha’s morally grey character archetype continues to have a lasting relevance.

Sure, the boys in the Adidas track jackets were always there, but it was Sasha who made it the standard issue uniform.

Dead Media- 3D

A can of virtual reality

I’ve always been fascinated with stereo viewers. Once upon a time, when I was a wee lad, I visited my great-grandmother at her wee home in Jolly Olde England.  It turned out that she had the same regard for immersive technology as I did- she had a Victorian era stereograph viewer and a sick collection of  antique 3D stereo cards. Steampunk or what?

Victorian Stereograph ViewerYes, stereoscopy has been around for a long time. That contraption belonging to my great-grandmother was made of wood and had two glass lenses. It weighed so much I had to brace it on the floor, on top of a pillow, and lie in front, resting my head on my elbows. It was worth the effort. I could see ‘into’ the photograph and felt like I was transported into space and time. On a side note- I had this experience again decades later when I bought a heavily discounted (read: cheap) Nintendo Virtual Boy.

View-Master

This feeling of traveling outside of the body and experiencing a sense of virtual surroundings was shared by millions of kids and adults when the View-Master was first released in the late 1930’s. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say: “View-Master, since 1939, has been a device for viewing seven 3-D images (also called stereo images) on a paper disk. Although the View-Master is now considered a childrens’ toy, it was originally marketed as a way for viewers to enjoy stereograms of colourful and picturesque tourist attractions.”

Whatever the original intent was, View-Master has become synonymous with several generations of Pop Culture geeks and depending on your age, the sight of a black or red (or red and blue) View-Master conjures up images of Donald Duck, The Lone Ranger, or E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial.

Keep a bottle of eye drops nearby.
Keep a bottle of eye drops nearby.

Like most immersive technologies, educational and practical uses were developed. The U.S. Military used the View-Master as an aid in the identification of airplanes. The Gruber Company used the View-Master to develop human anatomy study guides. But for all of this, the best View-Master reels are 1960’s Batman and 3D stills from the original Tron film. Of course this is highly personal and your tastes may be different.

3D is back sort of…..although the last few years have seen North American releases of 3D blurays finally end (and no 3D televisions being manufactured), Europe continues to see new releases and these can be purchased online. This is a good thing.  Sure I can dust off the bluray 3D version of Tron (Tron: Legacy). and still enjoy it’s jaw dropping immersion but it’s nice to know that the newer releases such as Wonder Woman 1984 can still be added to the collection.

Oculus Quest 2

If 3D is dying a slow death the same can’t be said for it’s direct descendant. Virtual Reality gaming and simulation takes immersion to an entirely other level:  it provides a full 360 degrees of movement and viewing, complete with real world effects such as light and shadow movement and visual scaling.  If you haven’t already tried VR gaming then you are missing out. But that’s a story for a future article.

For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

One of my personal fav's.
Tron 1982 ViewMaster Image

How You Feel About Money Affects Your Wealth

Ah, Aristotle- penchant of ancient greek wisdom. Nicely said, Dude. Although we live in the richest and most advanced society the world has ever known, many of us say we need more money in order to be happy, notes best-selling business book author Doug Vermeeren.

“Even some of those in the top percentile of earners often feel like they don’t have enough money,” says Vermeeren, (www.DouglasVermeeren.com), an international speaker who consults with celebrities, business executives and professional athletes.

“The math is simple: More money does not equal more happiness. It’s our attitude toward money, not the amount, that influences our happiness the most.”

Doug Vermeeren was interviewed earlier this year by Shaw. You can watch this by clicking on the link below at the end of the article. CP

Happiness researchers Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, professors at the Harvard Business School, recently published research indicating that it’s not money that makes people happy, nor the things people buy with it. Rather, it’s the experiences one has that ultimately account for happiness.

“How you experience your money on a day-to-day basis is what matters,” Vermeeren says. “If the software running in your brain is constantly reinforcing the message, ‘it’s not enough,’ then that is likely how you will see yourself and experience your life – as ‘not enough.’ ”

The world’s richest city- is it Tokyo or Dubai? The top ranking seems up for grabs and changes from year to year.

Harvard's Happiness researcher (we're not making this stuff up) Elizabeth Dunn
Harvard’s Happiness researcher  Elizabeth Dunn

Vermeeren reviews the three fallacies of abundance as it relates to happiness:

We are all entitled to a certain amount of wealth: The feeling that we deserve or are owed a certain amount of wealth will always make us unhappy with whatever we have. While we are entitled to certain human rights, those do not include a winning lottery ticket. In reality, we are not owed any amount of abundance and, in fact, should count ourselves lucky if we’re able to meet our basic needs; many in the world are not. More of us, however, would be happier simply appreciating what we have.

The result of our labors is money: Money is a means to an end, not an end in itself. This can be a challenge to keep in mind since so much of our lives are spent in the pursuit of money. We work and go to school to support ourselves and our families. We see things we want, and we know we need more money for them. Study after study shows, however, that what really makes us happy is what we do and who we do it with, and not how much money we spend.

We’ll be happiest when we finally reach our goal: We are happiest when we are progressing toward a goal. When we lose sight of our goal, veer off the path toward our goal, and even achieve our goal, we’re less happy. Rather than setting one goal and deciding you will be happy when you meet it, you’ll be most happy if you continually set goals and relish your journey toward them.

Doug Vermeeren is an internationally renowned public speaker, author, movie producer and director. His life coaching strategies help those from all walks of life, with clients including business executives, celebrities, professional athletes and more. Throughout the last decade, Vermeeren has conducted extensive first hand research into the lives of more than 400 of the world’s top contemporary achievers, making him a sought-after commentator on news outlets including ABC, FOX, CNN and more. He has written three titles contributing to Guerilla Marketing, the best-selling business series in publishing, which is included reading in the Harvard Business School.

His documentaries include the award-winning film, The Opus, which has been published by Random House as a book in 23 countries. Vermeeren’s latest film, The Gratitude Experiment , has received critical acclaim.  For the Silo, Ginny Grimsley. 

Click to view on I-tunes
Click to view on I-tunes

Book Snobbery, Fairy Tales And Reality

“The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.” ― W.H. Auden

“In a utilitarian age, of all other times, it is a matter of grave importance that fairy tales should be respected.” (Frauds on the Fairies, 1853)” ― Charles Dickens, Works of Charles Dickens

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein

i dream of genie with blue djinn and darrens living room

I was “that child”, the one who wanted fairy tales and magic to be real. As far back as I can remember I dreamed about having supernatural powers (always good of course…well, almost always) having carpets that flew, potions that could transform anyone or anything, the ability to speak to animals. I never understood why Darren and Samantha worked so hard at concealment. Or why Jeannie didn’t dump the Major and go back to live with the Djinn….I mean, LOOK at the decor!!!! Who wouldn’t rather have scarves and pillows and elaborate brass lamps instead of that godawful avocado and mustard vibe?

Music for a fairy tale. Click me.
Music for  fairy tales. Click me.

Books fueled this. Small witches, talking mice, flying nannies, rings and boxes and mysterious rooms and islands all combined in a grand and glorious stew. Why couldn’t I have a wizard for a teacher? (maybe I would have learned math) Why couldn’t bullies simply be turned into flowerpots? Alas, eventually the adulting creeps in. And people stop being indulgent about your whimsy. And your imagination….

You stop inviting your friends over to play make believe. Or, at least, they stop accepting. And you are encouraged to put away childish things. To accumulate the right kind of books….improving books. High tone books. Books with Purpose. The wishing frogs and tall towers and magic mirrors are packed away… Book Snobbery. Where Fantasy books in the annoying “Y.A.” category are barely tolerated. Stuff and Nonsense.(keeping it G rated here. I expect points…) Children should be encouraged to read whatever they reading-on-the-buswant and adults should enjoy the same free pass. You should be proud of displaying your book on the bus whether you are reading Kafka or Twilight. There are life lessons to be found in fantasy. Fairy tales teach you that sometimes bad things do happen. (The original version of some of the most beloved and well known can be a bit brutal.

For example, the Ugly Stepsisters in Cinderella actually cut their toes off to fit into the slipper. Kiddiewinkle Disney this ain’t.. ) But good and kind usually triumph. Sometimes help can come from unexpected areas. And there is always a way out of the woods. I do live in the real world. Drive. Work. Pay taxes. Cook, clean, shop. Watch the political situation (although “real” and politics lately….never mind) When I sit at a stop light I do not think a gnome is changing the colors. I rarely look for dragons. But I still yearn for them. Magic is everywhere and everything. It may not have glittery wings, it may not be vanquished with a sword, there might not be a house dropped on it or a incantation spoken…..but it is here.

Writers poets, artists, storytellers; all know this on some level. Even if we disguise it.The human imagination is ancient. The roots of stories are found far back in oral traditions and the tales were only modified later to make them illustrations of good versus evil. We do research, we discuss, we delve and write learned papers. We collect quotes and materials, and most importantly buy the books buy the books buy the books…. Books are the real magic. The tangible, in your hands, in your face, take you wherever you want to go – Magic. Read it. Whatever the cover, whatever the rating.

If you like it, read it. Do not let any house of cards pompous proclamation tell you it’s wrong. Secretly we are looking for the elves. We want there to be fairies in the garden. We never see a shooting star without wishing. And if you are very, very lucky. You will never lose that. For the Silo, Jaye Tomas. 

 

 

Fictional Vaping Devices For Pop Culture Icons

Have you ever wondered what kind of vaping device fictional characters from the movies would use if they started vaping? Our friends at greyhaze.co.uk have and they sent us this infographic! Below is a selection of some of the most well-known fictional movie characters and how they imagine their vaping device would look. They’ve also added in a few special features that you could only find in the fictional world.

Are there any missing characters that you would like to see? Leave your comments at the end of the post below or upload us a video message using this handy recorder button-  [vidrack align=”right”]

 

Fictional vaping devices for pop culture icons.

New Coloring Books From Iconic Lifestyle Brand Vera Bradley

While plenty of industries, from sports to pop culture, have entered coloring book licensing partnerships, few have embraced it as much as the fashion world. Now, what could be the most beautiful and fanciest iteration of fashion coloring books has arrived. Vera Bradley is making a grand entrance into the coloring book world with their forthcoming pattern portfolio books. The books feature the company’s signature textile designs and unique patterns as line art for coloring in, as well galleries of colored designs for inspiration.
Vera Bradley is a leading designer of women’s handbags, luggage and travel items, fashion and home accessories and unique gifts. Founded in 1982 by friends Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller, the brand’s innovative designs, iconic patterns and brilliant colors continue to inspire and connect women unlike any other brand in the global marketplace. The Company’s commitment to bringing more beauty into women’s lives includes its dedication to breast cancer research through the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer in which they have raised over $28 USD million to date.
The titles for her two new books—Seize the Day and Enjoy the Journey—are reflective of Vera Bradley’s values of female empowerment. This is an area Vera Bradley co-founder Barbara Bradley Baekgaard is passionate about. Baekgaard was recently a headlining speaker at the The Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium at the University of Florida. She is also a guest judge on the show Girl Starter—an engaging, fast-paced business-genre reality-competition show that engages eight girls ages 18-24 as they compete in the early-phases of entrepreneurial business building. Vera Bradley is also a sponsor to the show.
The ultimate in coloring book quality.
Enjoy the Journey with this inspiring coloring book. Featuring 40 classic Vera Bradley designs, each eye-catching illustration is printed on extra-heavy, 200-year acid-free artist paper. A quick reference pattern guide provides the original Vera Bradley color schemes for every named pattern in the book, with stunning original patterns also shown in two-page spreads.

A full-color introduction shows you coloring techniques, craft ideas, and the right color swatches to use for a terrific look. Featuring a gold foil-embossed gatefold cover, this unique book even includes 16 bonus gift tags and 8 ready-to-color note cards.

Publisher: Design Originals, an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing / August 2017

Pages: 120

ISBN: 978-1497203532

Seize the Day features 40 classic Vera Bradley designs, each eye-catching illustration is printed on extra-heavy, 200-year acid-free artist paper. A quick reference pattern guide provides the original Vera Bradley color schemes for every named pattern in the book, with stunning original patterns also shown in two-page spreads. A full-color introduction shows you coloring techniques, craft ideas, and the right color swatches to use for a terrific look.

Similar to Enjoy The Day, this book also features a gold foil-embossed gatefold cover and includes 16 bonus gift tags and 8 ready-to-color note cards. Get ready to color in the language of beauty with Vera Bradley!

Publisher: Design Originals, an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing / August 2017

Pages: 120

ISBN: 978-1497203532
For the Silo, Elizabeth Martins.

Hashtag Roundup App reaching 100,000,000 Twitter “Hashtag gamers” weekly

Have you been playing hashtag games on Twitter? Hashtag games are fun and free word games where Twitter users contribute funny or clever responses around a common theme, like #RejectedPrezCampaignSlogans or like #Things20SomethingsSay.
Rejected Prez Campaign Slogans Hillary
Hashtag games can often be found in the “what’s trending” area of Twitter but to discover all of them there’s a new app called Hashtag Roundup (www.hashtagroundup.com) that creates and hosts its own creative games, recruits comedians and Twitter celebrities to host live games, and aggregates the best trending games, making Twitter easy and accesible for everyone.

 The Hashtag Roundup app, now available for Apple and Android, provides game alerts, peer-to-peer awards, and exclusive leader boards to serve the rapidly expanding global hashtag gaming community. Hashtag Roundup is the leading creator, promoter, and aggregator of hashtag games in the US, Canada, and UK, with a cumulative weekly reach now exceeding 100 million Twitter users.

We ( @thesiloteam) had fun with a recent game called #MakeAFilmSkeptical
We ( @thesiloteam) had fun with a recent game called #MakeAFilmSkeptical

Hashtag games are word games where Twitter users contribute often clever or funny responses to a common theme. For example, a recent game promoted by Hashtag Roundup was #4BestWordsEver, and contributions included tweets like “Open bar, free food” (@2p2TrollCat), “School is finally out” (@trjx1d), “Mom got us pizza” (@Broganza16), and “You’re the best mommy” @darksidedeb).

Brands get in the game as well, with submissions like “We’re going to Universal” @UniversalORL), “No soup for you!” @Seinfeldtv) and “a dozen original glazed” @krispykreme). The “winners” are the ones with the most retweets and favorites. Hashtag games provide a fun diversion and creative outlet for individuals and a marketing channel for big brands.

Hashtag Roundup recruits comedians and Twitter celebrities to host and create games. Users download the app in order to see what games are running and what the best responses are. Hashtag Roundup shares both original games and trending games on Twitter.

Scott Fischler Cofounder HashtagGameHashtag Roundup is a joint venture of @TheHashtagGame and @absrdNEWS. In February 2012, @theHashtagGame was launched by Scott Fischler (@fastlaugh) and quickly established itself as the leading 24/7 hub of hashtag gaming. Meanwhile, @absrdNEWS and absrdCOMEDY.com were launched in February 2014 by Jeff Dwoskin (@bigmacher), immediately gaining recognition and followers for its sharp news parody and frequent, funny Top Ten Lists. Fischler and Dwoskin, both comedians, joined forces in 2014 to jointly develop the Hashtag Roundup app for iOS and Android. Hashtag Roundup delivers a consistently great Twitter experience, with engaging hashtag games and hosts.

“We love watching the hilarious and creative answers our fellow Twitter users come up with in hashtag games, but as hashtag addicts ourselves, we struggled to keep track of all the games, and all the responses,” said Jeff Dwoskin, founder of absrdCOMEDY.com.

“Hashtag gaming is rapidly becoming a significant marketing vehicle for brands, celebrities, major league sports teams… even political candidates. All are now frequently playing our games, and recognizing the massive positive exposure to new audiences that hashtag gaming provides,” said Scott Fischler, founder of @TheHashtagGame.

App  Download links

iPhone/iPad https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hashtag-roundup/id985741893?ls=1&mt=8
Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtitans.hashtag_roundup

Click to view on I-tunes
Click to view on I-tunes

Window Fishing Or The Night We Caught Beatlemania

Window Fishing

A Silo Canuck Book Review

I’ve never particularly been a Beatle’s fan. I like some of their songs. I like a number of them very much, but if I was asked the now proverbial question, “The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?” I would probably say, Oh, I don’t know, maybe The Who? The body of work of Mark Knopfler. Massive Attack were massive for me.

But I was not a child of the sixties, “an age of assassins,” John B. Lee writes in his poignant and powerfully executed preface, when “[o]ur childhood martyred almost all the heroes that we’d had.” John F. Kennedy. Robert F. Kennedy. Martin Luther King (Malcolm X, not mentioned but later, yes). “The list is overlong,” Lee says. “It will not end.” I understand more fully than ever these life-shattering moments, for Americans and Canadians alike; for so many  Across the Universe . Into this near death of hope came The Beatles. The Beatles came to America, came on a Sunday night in January 1964 to The Ed Sullivan show and, and as Lee exclaims with no exclamation mark, “sang my life awake.”

It’s not a perfect looking book. Yet as I read, the grainy cover photo (by an unknown photographer) of four dapper mop-tops fishing out the window of their Seattle hotel—they literally weren’t allowed to leave—starts to resonate. It’s imperfection could be viewed as integral, evoking a time in music when moments of “perfect imperfection,” as Michael Shatte calls them in his essay, were more common in pop; “happy accidents” which would not be tolerated in this era of hyper-produced top-forty songs, when singers voices are routinely, digitally “auto-tuned” in the studio, and we get used to being disappointed when we hear them live. Then there’s lip-synching. I don’t need to go on. There is great music being made by great musicians right now. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. This is about a particular moment in pop-music history, in cultural history, and many of the moments that followed.

PaulMcCartneyBlur

The book is selected and edited by John B. Lee, a Canadian poet and writer who has published more than fifty books and received over 70 prestigious awards for his work. If you haven’t heard of him don’t feel too bad. He tells me openly there is little money in poetry, reminding me it’s not about that anyway. If it was it probably wouldn’t be poetry.

If you haven’t read him it might be time to start: his verse and prose catch the beauty of rural life, farm life, family life, hockey, human sexuality—life. Just Google him. He’s from home, you know. Right around here, right around me, the Poet Laureate of Brantford, Ontario and Norfolk County, home as well to Alexander Graham Bell and Wayne Gretzky, a poet of sport. Like McEnroe was one of the poets of my youth, making tennis beautiful, thrilling, creative; revolutionary. How I tried to emulate him…

Window Fishing Cover

Window Fishing is about a time of Revolution, evolutions in culture, and about growing up in the thick of it all. I wasn’t here yet, but as I read this book I learn. It is a literary volume. The cover photo and torn ticket stub on the back page are its only images. Or are they? Because black words on white paper are also images. And the book’s words, artistically rendered, conjure images as well as ideas. It is poetry, and prose poetry, and personal essays; fine writing by a collection of fine writers.

I learn that for most of the men, who were boys then, pubescent, the Beatles were all about music: musical discovery, even ecstasy. And style too. There was style.

For the women who write about the phenomenon of Beatlemania, there was music too. Absolutely. But there was something else. Something profound: the awakening of sexuality. Even a kind of love. Suddenly I understand all the screaming and crying, the fainting. For emerging, young (straight) women, the Beatles were more than musical. They were also beautiful. Sexy. As Susan Whelehan puts it in her essay: “John. He was mine and I was his…I was going to be his FOREVER. And I am.”

While many parents of the day may have dismissed The Fab Four at first as a silly “boy-band,” we might say now, shaking their longish (for the time), round hair-cuts—singing “Ooooo!” and “Yeah Yeah Yeah!”—fact is from the beginning The Beatles were always at the very least competent, and obviously compelling, musicians. Writes Honey Novick in her probing, poetic essay: “You could actually dance to their music.” And we know they became more and more sophisticated as they progressed through their careers, eventually making challenging, often satisfying real art-music, the way Radiohead did for me in my 20’s.

All this beautiful literature about The Beatles and the 1960’s has inspired me to listen, finally, seriously, to the music. Even if you thought, at the time, “Yeah Yeah Yeah” was just bubblegum for kids, consider the lyrics. One friend to another: “You think you lost your love/Well I saw her yesterday. She says it’s you she’s thinkin’ of/And she told me what to say: She says she loves you.” She loves you man. Yeah! (Yeah! Yeah!). What more is there to celebrate? Ecstatically.

If you were there, or if you want to learn, or if you care about music or culture or the 1960’s or just literature, embrace the “perfect imperfection” of this unique and potent book. Some of the poems made me close my eyes and shut the pages. To savour, digest. Bruce Meyer made me cry. I was 8 years old when Lennon was shot. Assassinated. It made no impact on me then. I wasn’t really there yet. The book put me there, as close as I can ever come.  For the Silo, Alan Gibson.

Real–life Detroit set to receive ten-foot ‘pop culture’ Robocop statue

 

The 10 foot tall ( 3.048 m) work in progress Robocop statue. image: freep.com
The 10 foot tall ( 3.048 m) work in progress Robocop statue. image: freep.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 1987 the Dutch auteur film maker Paul Verhoeven created a movie unlike any other. He called it Robocop and I’m old enough to remember watching this dark comedy sci-fi masterpiece when it was brand spanking new.

Orion Pictures Robocop

 

This film and its sequel  (humbly titled: Robocop 2) continue to resonate and influence today’s art and culture. Sometime this year or perhaps next, in the real-world city of Detroit a ten-foot tall Officer Murphy (aka Robocop himself) statue will be unveiled- 26 years after Verhoeven chose Detroit as the setting for a near future city on the brink of disaster due to the privatization of that city’s police force and its resulting corporate mismanagement.

It seems OCP, Detroit’s police force, have no choice but to create a half-man half-machine cyborg in hopes of not only a public relations coup but with an eye on a bright future of profitable policing. Enter the complicated messages stitched into Robocop.

 

Film like all media, has been used as a political statement before but perhaps Robocop did this unintentionally.  It’s a sci-fi movie first and foremost but the personal message  exists too:  THIS MIGHT HAPPEN.  “Dead or alive….you’re coming with me.”  CP

 

There's a reboot in the works.
There’s a reboot in the works.

Supplemental- The Rocky Balboa statue in Philadelphia http://www.pophistorydig.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/1982-rocky-rear-90.jpg

“Oh what the hell, frieda chicken”