Monthly Archives: May 2023

When Lesley Lokko was invited to curate the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, it felt like the next chapter of a narrative shed been building for decades. I told myself, Youve been waiting a long time to have a space: now take it, and say something, she says during a stopover in London on her way from Ghana to Venice.

The wait is almost over: the 18th edition of architectures pre-eminent cultural event opens on May 20. Under Lokkos direction, 89 independent exhibitors and 64 nations will present proposals and provocations that reflect the state of the discipline. And, for the first time, the spotlight will be on Africa and its diaspora. The space has opened up to tell a different, more complex story about architecture and its relationship to society, Lokko says.

Her desire isnt to replace the existing architectural canon but to expand it. The sense of an incomplete story, which hasnt made room for other voices, is strong in my mind.

The Ghanaian-Scottish academic heads the African Futures Institute, an Accra-based architecture school and events platform she founded in 2020. Lokko has taken a circuitous route to get here: after trying her hand at Hebrew, Arabic and sociology before studying architecture at UCL in London, she initially gravitated towards designing homes, but found the realities of architectural practice too messy. Id been seduced by the idea of a neat desk with a pot of pencils on it, she jokes. But I was terrible. I built my own house and one for a friend: they were nightmare experiences. She quickly realised that education was her calling, earned her PhD and then taught at universities around the world.

For 12 years she left architecture entirely to be an author: her first novel, Sundowners (2004), was a bestseller, and she published 11 more. In 2012 The Scotsman newspaper described her books as Jackie Collins...with a smart and sophisticated edge. Writing fiction wasnt a total departure from architecture, she found: They are both about imagining worlds, and you have to have a three-dimensional mind to hold it all together.

What has been consistent is Lokkos interest in the intersection between race and space, from her novels and her 2000 anthology, White Papers, Black Marks: Race, Culture, Architecture, to the graduate school of architecture she established in Johannesburg in 2015 against the backdrop of the Rhodes Must Fall movement. The Venice exhibition is the physical manifestation of these ideas.

This is the first time the Architecture Biennale has had a curator of African origin. The absence of voices from the continent is clear in Venices complex of 29 permanent national pavilions; Egypt is the only representative. This matters not simply because it neglects a huge chunk of the world, but because the region is at the forefront of urgent global challenges climate change and rapid urbanisation among them.

The global south is often treated as a problem to be solved from the outside. Lokko argues instead that Africa holds an abundance of ideas that the western establishment has ignored until now. The youthful continent is a laboratory for the future, she says. That is the title she has chosen for this years exhibition, intended to encourage people to experiment with bold visions for how we should live.

Participants will respond to the twin themes of decolonisation and decarbonisation topics, Lokko points out, that go beyond the zeitgeist. Historically for Europe, she says, the black body was a unit of energy. Sothe relationship between decolonisation and decarbonisation is a thousand years old.

Leading African and diasporic practitioners the likes of Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama and South African architect Sumayya Vally are exhibiting alongside others from around the world. Special projects explore themes ranging from food to gender, as well as the Tropical Modernism style that developed in west Africa during colonial rule. National pavilions interpret the themes through their own lenses from countries focusing on water (Greece, Panama, Grenada) to the UK, which explores how diasporic communities use everyday rituals to claim space. A lot of what youll see will be about the construction of the imagination, and of narratives through film, photography, drawings, models its about a world thats yet to come, Lokko says.

The focus on Africa and its diaspora is also a way of exploring hybridity, the merging of identities and cultures arguably the defining condition of our moment. Architecture is itself a hybrid profession, intersecting with planning, politics and public health. Theres something about the training of an architect thats particularly suited to our time: its about bringing disparate pieces of information together in a framework, says Lokko. Architecture is about more than building buildings.

This expansive definition will leave her vulnerable to a common criticism of architects: they think theyre experts at everything. Lokko stresses she isnt proposing that the discipline expands endlessly rather that challenges which fall outside architecture as its traditionally understood are inevitable. The hope is that, by privileging other issues, the nature of how one practises architecture will change, she says. Architects have the power to change the culture of how we build and how we think about resources.

Ultimately, though, Lokkos intention is not just to tell a different story but to change who tells it. More than half the exhibitors this year hail from the African continent or diaspora. There is also gender parity and an average age of 43, contrasting with an industry dominated by older, white, male voices. In keeping with Lokkos interest in education, the Biennale is for the first time running a college for 50 early-career practitioners from around the world.

Not all of Lokkos own teaching stints have been positive. Her departure in 2020 from her position as dean of the Spitzer School of Architecture at City College New York gained wide public attention. In her resignation letter, Lokko described it as a profound act of self-preservation. As well as experiencing overwork during the first phase of the pandemic and a lack of meaningful support no job is worth ones life, she said she says the institution was structurally resistant to the transformation it claimed it wanted.

For Lokko, one realisation that came out of this was the importance of creating alternatives to traditional networks of power. Until then, I thought relationships with allies were things you found almost accidentally. Now I have a more deterministic view: its important, for example, that women of my generation Im almost 60 are available to younger women. Succession is something you make, by constructing opportunities.

When the exhibition finishes in November, this network might be its most immediate legacy. Yet its impact will be limited by its very context. Of a continent of a billion people, how many people from Africa are ever going to come to Venice? (At the time of writing, members of Lokkos own team in Accra had been denied visas to attend the event.)

So what will people who can make it take away? I hope people will see the power of the imagination that it doesnt depend on privilege or resources, Lokko says, and that theyll come away somehow changed by the experience.

To November 26, labiennale.org

View original post here:

Curator Lesley Lokko on the Venice Architecture Biennale: 'It's about ... - Financial Times

Alright Amsterdam, it's time to head East. This August will see The Hoxton open its second hotel in the Dutch capital slap bang in the heart of the Eastern Docklands, home to a laid-back, locally-rooted community drawn to the swathes of serene greenery, waterside views and thriving indy scene. Taking up residence in a landmark that was originally built by the Royal Dutch Lloyd Shipping Company in 1921, the 136-room hotel will honour the building's storied past while embracing the vibrancy and youthful energy that defines this corner of the city. A cosy, open-house lobby will welcome locals to their new neighbourhood spot, which also houses destination restaurant Breman Brasserie, hot new cocktail bar concept, Barbue, and The Apartment, The Hoxton's hybrid events and meeting space. The ultimate summer hangout in the form of a sun-drenched, south-facing terrace rounds out the scene for Lloyd's next chapter, Hox style.

As with the interiors of Amsterdam's original Hoxton on the Herengracht, Ennismore's AIME Studios has once again collaborated with local design firm Nicemakers to create an aesthetic that pays homage to the building's roots while capturing the creative zeitgeist of the Eastern Docklands. The architectural heritage of the 1920s structure has been embraced and elevated, with elements such as the stained-glass windows, timber panelling, and original tiling inspired by the brick expressionist movement uplifted by bold tones, and oversized, graphical patterns. Vintage furniture sourced from Northern Europe and statement lighting fixtures such as the seven spectacular glass chandeliers in Breman Brasserie hark back to the glamour of the landmark structure's Art Deco roots. Offering a contrasting shot of modernity, neighbouring gallery Bisou has curated the hotel's all-Dutch artwork collection featuring emerging local talent as well as established and rediscovered artists.

The bold design concept is continued throughout the interiors of the 136 bedrooms where a warm palette of corals, reds and ochres is juxtaposed against cool blues and greys; a playful nod to Lloyd's shipping connections. The unique footprint of the building has allowed for a whole raft of new and exciting room concepts, including the Tower Room with its charming spiral staircase and unbeatable waterfront views, and the split-level Studio Mezzanine. All the Hox favourites including Cosy, Biggy and Roomy categories are represented, and the all-new, four-person Biggy Double Up rooms are perfect for stays with family or pals with the addition of a second king-size bed, while Biggy Bunk Up rooms feature a double bed alongside curtained bunk beds reminiscent of nautical sleeper berths.

The Hoxton will be bringing two fresh new concepts to the neighbourhood: Breman Brasserie, a comfort-driven spot thattakes inspiration from turn-of-the-century European and South American cuisine named after the building's original architect, and standalone cocktail bar - Barbue. Inspired by iconic and timeless brasserie culture, Breman Brasserie will offer an all-day classically European menu whilst combining this with the punchy flavours of South America with a welcoming ambience that encourages people to join for a coffee and cake, a lengthy lunch that stretches into the late afternoon, and a high-spirited dinner that ends with shots of tequila and a sing song on the way home. Situated in the building's original ticket office, Barbue is influenced by golden age Argentina with expertly made cocktails that put a twist on the classics, produced with seasonal and sustainable ingredients.

Loved by locals and curious travellers alike for its easy-breezy vibe and boutique shopping streets such as Javastraat and Czaar Peterstraat dotted with independent galleries, cafes and bars, the Eastern Docklands district offers a striking counterpoint to Amsterdam's distinctive canal house aesthetic with a waterfront dotted with contemporary glass and steel buildings. The hotel is well placed to discover the entire city, it's just a quick 10-minute cycle or tram ride to Centraal Station and 15-minutes away from its sibling on the Herengracht.

Hotel website

The Hoxton, Lloyd Amsterdam Oostelijke Handelskade 34Amsterdam, 1019 BNNetherlands, The

+31 20 561 3636

Read the original post:

The Hoxton, Lloyd Amsterdam to open 21st August 2023 - Hospitality Net

The Frankfurt National Assembly met for the first time on May 18, 1848. The delegates were meant to work on a constitution and prepare for elections. They appointed Heinrich von Gagern (1799 1880) as president of the assembly.

Archduke Johann of Austria (1782 1859) was called upon to serve as regent of the empire. He was the head of state in the German federation until the free elections. His appointment was the first in a series of poor decisions. For the radicals in the assembly, he stood for an old system that needed to be overthrown. For them, it was unimaginable that they should cooperate with such a man.

The next problem arose in the summer of 1848 after the truce of Malm, which ended a conflict in Schleswig-Holstein. There, despite Prussian intervention, the revolution against the Danish ruler, King Frederick VII (1808 1863) was defeated. The National Assembly was forced to recognize that, without an army of its own, it couldn't protect the interests of its members.

The delegates also quickly noticed that they weren't just missing their own army, but also all the other ingredients needed for the founding of a state: a capital city, national institutions, common laws, or other common ideas about who should be part of the new German empire.

Most of the delegates were academics who tended toward wide-ranging discussions. Valuable time was being lost on debates about civil rights or freedom of speech. But statingthese basic rights also paved the way for Germany's constitution today, as DW explained in a podcast in 2008.

But while the discussions went on in Frankfurt in 1848,the opponents of the revolution were able to mobilize their forces.

Even when National Assembly delegate Robert Blum (1807 1848) was executed following an outburst of revolutionary fighting in Austria, the delegates in Frankfurt continued to talk. By the end of December 1848, they'd debated a whole catalog of basic and human rights but failed to see the real power structures for what they were.

One of the core points of the debates was the question of which states should belong to the German empire. For some, it should be the members of the German Federation, Prussia, and Austria the "big German" solution.

Others wantedAustria tobe excluded this was the "small German" solution. But both propositions were factually impossible.

Proponents of the "big German" solution dreamed of a Germany under the Habsburg crown; they were fans of the old empire of the Middle Ages, simply dressing up their ideas with a bit of liberal Zeitgeist. In reality, what they wanted was a revival of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation that had disappeared in 1806 under Napoleon's rule.

But they were ignoring the several million non-Germans who would then be living in a German Empire. And as this plan would have led to the division of Austria, it was hardly surprising when Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I (1830 1916) vehemently voiced his opposition.

But the "small German" solution of the German Federation and Prussia without Austria was also rejected by the Austrian emperor, as he then would have lost his influence in Germany. This solution also missed the mark in terms of the vision to unite "all those of the German tongue" in the new empire. Months went by with the two sides unable to find a compromise, and soon they were arguing over another question: should the new Empire be a republic or a constitutional monarchy?

On March 27, 1849, a vote was held, with a slim majority opting for a constitutional monarchy with the Prussian king at the helm as German emperor. A delegation was dispatched to Berlin to crown Frederick William IV (1795 1861), but he refused to accept it. For him, it was as if he was being offered an "iron dog collar" by the National Assembly. Since he wouldn't allow the "scoundrels" to give him the crown, he squandered the Germans' last chance to become a nation-state within a movement supported by the people.

A little later, when the last troops capitulated in Rastatt, the German Revolutions were over. The delegates failed not just because of the missing power base, but also because they were unable to resolve the question of national boundaries. Excluding Prussia and Austria would have been too bland an option, as if forming a state out of the remnants one which, like the German Federation, would not have been capable of surviving on its own. Instead, it would have been dependent on the goodwill of the other "German states." Including Prussia and Austria would have meant an eventual split for both states, since both were home to large groups of non-Germans.

And so, the status quo remained in central Europe for the time being. But the events of the German Revolutions had made it clear that the danger of destabilization had become greater.

Around 22 years later, a German empire would be founded although without the involvement of the people. The ceremony marking its creation was held in January 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. This time, Prussian King William I (1797 1888) approved. Peace in Europe was maintained for several years until the increasingly aggressive policies of the new German Emperor William II (1859 1941) led to an eruption of unforeseen scope.

This article was originally written in German.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.

Read more from the original source:

German revolution of 1848: A precursor to today's democracy - DW (English)

Ah, the 1980s. The decade was a blur of saturated colours, zany patterns and, yes, feathered hairdos. And if one single logo design captured this frenetic, rule-breaking creative energy, it has to be the MTV logo.

The shifting look of Warner-Amex's (WASEC) music channel tapped into a look that remains influential today by using a simple logo that could, and did, take on myriad different themes. And it's just being rediscovered by a new generation (see our guide to how to design a logo for more inspiration).

MTV began life back in 1981 and would revolutionise pop culture and entertainment with its back-to-back music videos (it was literally music television back in the day) and, perhaps even more notably, its design.

As recently noted on Reddit (opens in new tab), the MTV logo could take on different themes depending on the occasion needed, and these were often wild Memphis design patterns that would look chaotic and garish today.

While some Reddit users are having to explain the concept of MTV to younger peeps for others, the logo designs bring back a wave of nostalgia for the 80s arcade aesthetic. "I used to draw this on my school notebooks when I was 12," one person wrote. But how was the MTV logo born, and why does it so perfectly capture the spirt of its age?

The MTV logo tapped into the international Memphis designmovement. Led by the Italian architectEttore Sottsass, the Memphis group's first show, featuring objects like the Bel Air chair, was held at the Salone del Mobile Milano in 1981, the same year that MTV launched.

The various iterations of the MTV logo with its hand drawn look and crazy patterns reflected the graphics coming out of the Memphis movement. It was the work of young studio Manhattan Design, which was hired by WASEC vice president of creative services Fred Seibert.

But their first proposal was very, very different to the MTV logo we know. On his website, Seibert (opens in new tab) shares a 1982 article and interview from the industry magazine Cablevision, in which he reveals that the agency sent him a Polaroid of a sketch of a hand holding a musical note as if it were an Apple. He loved it, but attempts to work it into a wordmark were disastrous.

After that failure, and with it now decided that a 'MTV' needed to be in the design, the designers began playing around with the letters alone. The result was something simultaneously simple but unique and daring. A massive stately M as a 3D projection with TV scrawled over it.

The simplicity of it meant that the logo could take on a life of its on, with the M subject to all kinds of interventions, from bricks to flags, animal prints and fruit. These many outfits have the logo a feeling of movement, even if it was static.

Image 1 of 2

Some of them may have been hard to read, but that's not really an issue. It's MTV, it was the zeitgeist. People soon knew what it was. Seibert says the design went against everything he knew, but it came to define an era.

For the design stories behind the identities of more recent media outlets, see our explorations of the YouTube logo history and the TikTok logo history.

Continued here:

How the MTV logo captured the creative spirit of the 1980s - Creative Bloq

Did I mention that I hate sports? Thats OK, because this Tuesday theres only one focus anyway: Getting to the polls in the Pennsylvania primary and special elections, if you are eligible to vote. Philly voters will be picking the citys first non-comatose mayor in eight years. Suburban school elections could stop the book banners. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court could save your 2024 ballot. So vote in 2023!

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up to get this newsletter weekly, because well be here for all the winners and losers even the biggest losers on the planet, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Interestingly, my question about great 2020s pop musicians didnt stir nearly as much passion around here as the debt ceiling (go figure). But you guys did vote for such diverse artists as Devon Gilfillian and Amos Lee (both from Philly), Jon Batiste, and Leon Bridges. Jason Isbell is a phenomenal songwriter, singer, and guitarist, wrote Donna Carlton. His lyrics hit you right in the gut. He and his band, The 400 Unit, can rock with the best of them. Yup, and Ill add my own two cents: Margo Price, Adia Victoria, and Drive-By Truckers.

This weeks question: How do you handle a problem like the Philadelphia 76ers? Is firing coach Doc Rivers enough, or should they go as far as trading MVP-winner and playoff loser Joel Embiid? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me your answer.

Will Sen. Joe Manchins massive ego take down the American Experiment in 2024?

On TVs remarkable Succession, the lines between real life and art are often blurred like a 19th-century impressionist painting. Sometimes its very deliberate as with Sundays third-from-last-ever episode about an undecided presidential election, a dangerously right-wing Republican, and the role of a biased cable-news network that gave many viewers bad-acid flashbacks to the Election-Night trauma of 2016 or 2020.

One minor subplot (spoiler alert, but not much of one) was the all-too-predictable end of the vain and sometimes foolish presidential campaign of dim-bulb family heir Connor Roy, who blew $100 million of his inherited fortune on an ill-conceived third-party bid (slogan: Enough Already!) that struggled to climb to 1% in the polls and melted when the first 7 p.m. returns came in. Alas, Kentucky, he says to his new wife Willa. Alas, vanity.

I wonder if West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin was watching. He might have learned something because in this center-right Democrats unreality show, life seems to be imitating art. Its true that unlike Connor Roy, Manchin a millionaire who owns a Maserati and a yacht didnt inherit his wealth. (He doesnt really want you to know how he made it.) But he seems increasingly eager to spend at least $70 million of other peoples money on a 2024 independent White House campaign pretty much as vainglorious and foolhardy as the one concocted in the Succession writers room, and which would only run slightly better in Kentucky.

Alas, West Virginia. Alas, vanity.

Here is what is shaping up as a nightmare scenario for the American Experiment. Remember the 2016 race, when poll data showed that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were two of the most unpopular major party candidates ever to seek the Oval Office? Turns out that was just a coming attraction. Headed into 2024, core GOP voters just cant quit Trump and his worldwide Retribution tour, even though a majority of U.S. voters still despise him. Yet the oldest president in American history, Joe Biden, is nearly as unpopular, with even a majority within his own party wistfully hoping for an alternative. His biggest appeal is that hes not Trump.

The weakness of the two prohibitive favorites for their partys 2024 nominations highlighted by polls showing about one fifth of Democratic primary voters might back anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems like a brightly colored invitation for a third-party, independent candidate. Politics abhors such a vacuum, and poised to rush in is the self-proclaimed centrist group called No Labels, whose Democratic members in Congress have already thwarted some of Bidens more progressive goals.

The No Labels folks with a center-right agenda that caused The Intercept in 2018 to suggest that maybe the group should be labelled Republican have tended to oppose a progressive platform (universal health care, free public college) and sought work requirements for social programs like food stamps, while supporting some tame moderate ideas like gun background checks or infrastructure spending. As critics have pointed out, No Labels, despite its branding, does take a side: pro-billionaire, backed by a rogues gallery of corporate CEOs. One of its biggest recent donors is Dallas real-estate mogul Harlan Crow, the sugar daddy of right-wing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. (Just to keep the Succession analogy going, a No Labels-related PAC also received $500,000 from Logan Roy ... I mean, Rupert Murdoch.)

Despite the fact theres much overlap between No Labels policies and Bidens goals including the infrastructure and semiconductor bills the group has raised that whopping $70 million for the ambitious project to mount an independent, third-party campaign if both parties nominate unacceptably divisive candidates. The GOP? Check. But Biden, seriously? Democratic qualms about their standard bearer center on his age and, among young voters, that hes not progressive enough. Only Fox News brainwashing victims think POTUS 46 is divisive.

But as Anton Chekhov would surely tell us, do not place $70 million on the table in the first act unless you plan to burn it, spectacularly, in Act Three. Never mind that America has never really come that close to electing a third-party president; even a popular ex-POTUS like Theodore Roosevelt couldnt pull it off and a seeming zeitgeist-catcher in 1992s Ross Perot won only 19%. The No Labels scheme isnt even known yet to most voters and has virtually no popular support, yet its kamikaze momentum seems unstoppable.

And in Manchin, this political idea from heck seems to have found its perfect match.

The politics is perfect fit, for sure. Like No Labels, nominal Democrat Manchin can be occasionally OK (confirming Biden judges, surprisingly greenlighting a climate bill) but for the most part is more conservative than even his centrist reputation. And he keeps moving right. Just months after supporting that bill, he now says he will oppose any nominees to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who back Bidens radical climate agenda. He said this after returning from the key state of Iowa, where he called himself fiscally responsible and socially compassionate. (Read my earlier columns about Manchins corruption and destructive politics.)

He sure sounds like a presidential candidate, especially when he declared everything is on the table.

There are plenty of good reasons to run not for America, but for Manchin. His Senate seat is up for re-election in 2024 and the odds are that Manchin whos watched West Virginia go from a place Bill Clinton won in 1996 to one of Americas reddest Republican states would lose, especially if the GOP runs popular Gov. Jim Justice. That means his time as kingmaker of a divided Senate is running out.

On the other hand, this man who never says no to the Sunday talk shows would be in even greater demand as a presidential candidate, much as Perot was in 1992. The exposure wont come close to putting him in the White House, but it could boost his salary as a rainmaker or a lobbyist starting in 2025.

But the other thing that a Manchin-No Labels campaign would accomplish would be electing Trump, the most unacceptably divisive candidate in American history. Its true that the impact of third-party candidates is unpredictable; most experts believe, for example, that Perot took votes equally from Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. But the informed hunch is that a three-way race in 2024 would help Trump return to the White House.

Some of it is simple math: Nominally, thered be two Democrats a traditional one in Biden and a conservative one in Manchin facing one Republican, likely to be Trump. Whats more, Manchins appeal isnt his charisma he has very little but for folks who dont really like Trump or Biden. With just two choices in 2020, those voters broke for Biden and gave him the margin of victory. Trump might be loathed by the majority, but he also has the most rabid base of supporters, which is critical in a multi-candidate race.

Heres the reality: The billionaires funding No Labels would indeed love the all-but-impossible Manchin administration, but too many of them would also be perfectly OK with the 21st-century fascism of Trump 47, as long as that kept corporate taxes low and meant more pro-business judges. No one should fall for this Trojan horse of a presidential campaign. As Connor Roy himself might declare, Enough Already!

Yo, do this

Its no accident that the era of the anti-Establishment anti-hero taking on a corrupt civil society in sometimes-violent capers like Bonnie and Clyde or Dog Day Afternoon was also the last golden age of Hollywood movies. In todays fraught political environment, its not surprising that an award-winning, highly praised thriller in that same spirit How To Blow Up a Pipeline has struggled to get theater bookings. But now you can rent the film that the New York Times called a propulsive heist thriller even as it asks the audience what are the moral limits of fighting a catastrophe such as climate change on popular sites like Amazon or YouTube. So what are you waiting for?

This newsletter is often saturated by my own life experiences as a baby boomer from nostalgia for Watergate and Jefferson Airplane to my disappointment at our political failures. Now, the Washington Posts great Philip Bump has written a book asking the inevitable question: What comes after us? In The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America, Bump a whiz at using data to analyze where America is going looks at the last throes of the generation born from 1946-64 and what that means for the survivors. Thanks to Doc Rivers, James Harden, and Joel Embiid, I now have plenty of free time to read it.

Ask me anything

Question: Do you think itll be a high voting turnout for the mayor voting race? Via Vernon Carter (@TrkTurner) on Twitter

Answer: Vernon, history tells us the answer will be no. In the last seriously contested mayoral primaries in 2015, just 27% of Philadelphias registered voters turned out. And frankly I wonder if the shockingly lethargic mayoralty of the man who won that election, Jim Kenney, has devalued the citys top job in the eyes of some voters even as the city faces significant challenges. And heres a related problem: Philly unlike most other big cities has neither a runoff system nor the newer innovation of ranked-choice voting. This years tightly bunched field of contenders means the winner could get as little as 25% producing a mayor that the vast majority of Philadelphians did not vote for. No matter who wins tonight, I will be surprised if the 2023 election does not inspire a movement for significant ballot reform.

History lesson for Republicans on the true meaning of Good Samaritan

In the Christian Gospel of Luke, Jesus is questioned by a lawyer who wants to know what it means to be a good neighbor. The Christian savior responds with what is known as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It describes a traveler who is robbed, beaten, and left for dead at the side of the road. Two men of high standing, including a priest, walk right past him. But a Samaritan people thought to be enemies of the Jews stops to help the hapless victim, treating his wounds and transporting him to a nearby inn. The good neighbor, Jesus told the lawyer, was he who showed mercy on him. Go and do likewise.

Its been a few decades since I attended Sunday school, so I went back and re-read this parable to see if I was missing the part of the story when the Good Samaritan grabs the traveler from behind, places him in a military-style chokehold and strangles him. If that sentence sounds absurd to you, then you are not a fan of politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or a consumer of right-wing media like the editorial page of Rupert Murdochs Wall Street Journal. All of them are taking part in what looks to be a coordinated campaign to portray Long Islander Daniel Penny, the 24-year-old ex-Marine whose Manhattan F-train chokehold killed a homeless and mentally ill Jordan Neely, as the Subway Samaritan.

We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Lefts pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law abiding citizens, DeSantis apparently days from announcing a 2024 White House bid tweeted after Penny was booked on second-degree manslaughter charges. We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Lets show this Marine Americas got his back. These attempts to recast Penny as an American hero have been quite successful, raising about $2 million and counting for the ex-Marines legal defense. This alternative universe isnt just endorsing a nation of vigilantes taking the law into their own hands, but also creating a Minority Report-style Department of Pre-Crime, since Neely loudly disrupting the subway car with pleas for food, water, and help assaulted no one and seems to have committed no overt crime immediately prior to his death.

This sends a clear message, said the historian Thomas Zimmer, as cited in Heather Cox Richardsons must-read daily newsletter. It encourages white militants to use whatever force they please to fight back against anything and anyone associated with the Left by protecting and glorifying those who have engaged in vigilante violence call it the Kyle Rittenhouse dogma. I agree, but Im also aghast at the rank hypocrisy at this movement that appeals for the Christian fundamentalist vote while completely distorting the words of the Bible. Before he imposes his campaign on America, I would urge DeSantis to at least re-read the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and then go and do likewise. Because slandering Jesus is not a good look.

What I wrote on this date in 2017

What was that sound? Nothing less than the stirrings of a whole different kind of revolution from the city that gave America the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights a revolution aimed at finally undoing a draconian justice regime that had turned the Cradle of Liberty into a death-penalty capital and the poster child for mass incarceration. Thats what I wrote on this exact date six years ago, in celebrating a landmark moment in modern Philly history: the election of a reform-minded district attorney in Larry Krasner. Will history rhyme on this May 16 for progressives with their mayoral candidate, Helen Gym? While youre waiting for the answer, please read: This wasnt just a primary victory. This was a revolution.

Recommended Inquirer reading

Jeez, theres a lot going on right now. Late last week, I used the controversial occasion of a nationally televised CNN town hall to look at the state of Donald Trump and what that is saying about the state of the nation. I focused on my dismay not over the candidates predictable lies but on the audience of New Hampshire GOP voters who cheered and laughed for the rock-bottom worst of it. Over the weekend, I did that thing where I tried to place some important Philadelphia news billionaire Jeff Yass desperate $1 million effort to stop Helen Gym from becoming mayor in the national context of the far rights crusade against the very notion of public education.

Can you imagine if Philadelphia, the city where American democracy was born, held a mayoral election and there was no daily newspaper to chronicle it? That nightmarish-sounding scenario came close to happening this past weekend as unknown computer hackers wreaked havoc with The Inquirers operations, temporarily shutting down our newfangled newsroom overlooking Independence Hall and causing many subscribers to get an early edition of the Sunday paper lacking the latest news. (And if you havent heard the 76ers news, dont ask.) Whatever the hackers intention, a heroic effort by everyone from IT wizards to reporters and editors largely kept the news flowing on a weekend that saw Philly out for everything from pre-election door-knocking to the glitter of Eagles fan Taylor Swift. The great Joni Mitchell asked: Dont it always seem to go that you dont know what youve got til its gone? The fact the bad guys tried to take down The Inquirer should remind you about whats good about locally sourced civic journalism. Please consider supporting what we do here with a subscription.

More:

Ruin America? Joe Manchin is just getting started. | Will Bunch ... - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Credits: Far Out / Alamy)

Unlike many of his peers, humble old David Crosby was always effuse with praise for his fellow performers. The late folk legend has said that he knew [he] couldnt match the words of Bob Dylan, heaped huge praise upon his favourite band Steely Dan, and crowned Grace Slick and Janis Joplin the queens of rock. However, while these all induced a sense of awe in Crosby, there was one song that stunned him so much he thought of quitting music for good.

Every generation needs a pioneer to take the budding energy of the zeitgeist and burst it into something new. For Crosby, the expansive scale of Brian Wilsons songwriting with The Beach Boys did just that. Brian was the most highly regarded pop musician in America, hands down, Crosby once reflectively opined. Everybody by that time had figured out who was writing and arranging it all.

With his ear tuned in to their innovative ways, he was then suddenly rocked by one stand-out tune. In My Room was the defining point for me, Crosby said. When I heard it, I thought I give up I cant do that Ill never be able to do that. He wasnt alone either; John Fogerty said, You know that Brian Wilson song In My Room? Its the truth, and Rufus Wainwright called it one of the great signature songs. Continuing: I mean Brian Wilson wrote countless brilliant tunes, but I think this one really represents him.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Interestingly, in a fitting fashion, this beloved epic from their 1963 record Surfer Girl might have helped to inspire the counterculture movement and the great art it blossomed, but it also has a dark twist in its underbelly: Charles Manson claims to have penned it. The cult leader who orchestrated six murders in 1969 was a frequent fellon before the heinous slayings and he wrote a song titled In My Cell about finding a sort of sanctity within his caged walls. When Wilson wrote a song that similarly dealt with the comforts of isolation and finding exultation from confines in the act of making music, Manson given his connection to the band thought that he had been ripped off. Naturally, his claim is false, hes not a man known for the truth, however, it does add a pertinent footnote to proceedings all the same.

Because, ultimately, if this song is, indeed, as Wainwright opines, Wilsons defining anthem, then it seems strangely fitting that the sweet sounds carry the potential for darker corroborations in the undertow. While this inverse look at isolation lingers in the songs refrains if you are inclined to look at it that way, thankfully, for Wilson, the sweet sounds came from a harmonious place.

In the liner notes to Surfer Girl / Shut Down, Wilson writes: There is a story behind this song. When Dennis, Carl and I lived in Hawthorne as kids, we all slept in the same room. One night I sang the song Ivory Tower to them and they liked it. Then a couple of weeks later, I proceeded to teach them both how to sing the harmony parts to it. It took them a little while, but they finally learned it. We then sang this song night after night. It brought peace to us.

Adding: When we recorded In My Room, there was just Dennis, Carl and me on the first verse and we sounded just like we did in our bedroom all those nights. This story has more meaning than ever since Dennis death. Wilson cogitated on the melody and the setting that spawned the song endlessly following that night in the bedroom.

When he eventually sat down to write it with Gary Usher late one evening, it simply flowed out of him, forming a perfect vignette for the transcendent power of music that got him through the isolation of suffering from agoraphobia. The song was written in an hour, Usher recalls. Brians melody all the way. The sensitivity the concept meant a lot to him. The pair had passed the curfew time that Wilsons authoritarian father had enforced. Fortunately, the anthem was deemed good enough to grant them an excuse.

We got Audree [the Wilson brothers mother], Usher continues, who was putting her hair up before bed, and we played it for her. She said, Thats the most beautiful song youve ever written. Murry said, Not bad, Usher, not bad, which was the nicest thing he ever said to me.

So, it might have meant a lot to Wilson given everything it entailed, but it subsequently meant a hell of a lot to other people too. Beyond the subtle complexities of melody and its peculiar flat VII A major chord, there is a resonant sense of depth that pushes the baroque nature of the music to poetic heights. Crosby was stupefied by this upon release and he remained a huge fan of it throughout his life, eventually choosing to cover it in 2001 alongside Jimmy Webb and Carly Simon in an all-star tribute.

Most popular

See the original post here:

I give up I cant do that: The song that made David Crosby want to quit music - Far Out Magazine

When Megan Thee Stallion first coined the term Hot Girl Sh*t in her song Cash Shit which released in 2019, she could not have envisioned her lyric kickstarting the new crown mantra for the body positivity movement, or a cultural reset that actually made you feel good about yourself, summer or not. Hot Girl Summer is easier to visualize than describe, but Ill try anyway. In the words of Stallion herself, Its about women and men being unapologetically them, just having a good-ass time, hyping up their friends, doing you. You definitely have to be a person who can be the life of the party and just a bad bitch.

In the Summer of 2019, all it took was one tweet from her, to start a moment that reframed health, happiness, and self sufficiency as hot unapologetically. If you deconstruct the term, hot girl summer is a largely feminine-coded term, and owes its origin to black women.

In the cultural zeitgeist, Hot Girl Summer worked, even in countries where summer is a far away dream is because you dont have to go anywhere, nor put yourself in harms way, nor ponder extraterrestrial life to have a Hot Girl Summer. You focus on your earthbound self and what it means to live your best life, in your own skin, as per a Buzzfeed article. This phrase has now gained so much traction that Megan had to fight a two year long legal battle to trademark the term, and earn full ownership.

The internet then did to it what it does best memefication, and co-option. Soon enough, every brand joined the bandwagon of Hot Girl Summer, with Wendys declaring their lemonade to be the The Official Drink of Hot Girl Summer, and beauty brands such as Maybelline and Fenty Beauty adding their own twist to this momentum. Hot Girl Summer became the lifestyle choice not only in 2019, but the coming years as well.

But retail brands co-opting it as an attempt to ride the cultural wave had a damaging impact. It led to a conversation on brands appropriating black culture and lingo without treating black people fairly, as an article in Bitch Media notes. The cosmetic industry has not been kind to the black community, be it in terms of exclusion in skin shades, or hair products and Wendys also came under fire for acts of racism in the past. The article goes on to state, If you dont support Black women, give them access, and make them feel seen in the products youre peddling, then you shouldnt adopt their intraracial phrases to line your pockets.

Related on The Swaddle:

Why Retailers Rebranding as Woke Is Disingenuous

Hot girl summer was less an aesthetic and more a state of mind you dont have to be conventionally petite and skinny, you dont have to be a model, you dont even have to be a girl a hot girl is anybody that oozes confidence and charisma, and lives their truth. In her interview with Variety, Stallion lists the rules that embody a Hot Girl, You just have to be the life of the party, you have to be kind, you have to be confident and you have to like try to vote! But when brands adopted the phrase they turned it into its antithesis. It did, inevitably, become an aesthetic one that drew more attention to ones body than was otherwise warranted.

The past couple years have not been great, to put it mildly. Amidst the world burning (literally), political outrages, and a persistent threat for the unseen future, summer no longer represents or celebrates the joy of life, and Hot Girl Summer is one path to some much needed respite. Hot Girl Summer owes its genesis to not only Stallion, but also those who paved the road for her, such as the Riot grrrl movement, the Girl Power movement, Spice Girls, and third wave feminist politics.

Buzzfeed goes on to describe this vision as a means to inspire this kind of jaw-dropping awe of feminine agency without completely forgoing men if you dont want to. (Its more no boys needed than no boys allowed.)

Although this phrase has largely positive intonations, it became commodified under the aegis of body positivity, and nothing was the same again. Reclaiming body positivity is no new phenomenon, and despite the repetitive chants of Hot(ness) is a mindset, summer remains intrinsically linked to bikini bodies, summer shredding, and conventionally attractive body types perhaps even more so today, in the age of Ozempic. When brands co-opt this mantra to promote diet culture under the guise of fitness, the momentum of the movement shifts.

Michelle Carroll, in her fitness blog, speaks of how during the summer, advertising is directed at getting you ready for summer, through cosmetic procedures, cellulite-reducing creams, spray tans, gyms, fat-burners, laser hair removal. In essence, they control your environment. By surrounding your physical and virtual world with reminders that you still have work to do before you even dream of setting foot outside in the summer months, you are more likely to spend, spend, spend! Capitalism does not care for body image. These tactics get the brands their desired exposure, but ultimately contribute to a debilitating body image.

A study conducted by Scott Griffiths et al reported on the fluctuations seen in body image through the seasons. As hypothesized, in summer they observed peaks for body dissatisfaction alongside peaks in four proposed seasonal body image mechanisms: pressure from media advertisements, pressure from peers on social media, the feeling that ones body is on public display, and appearance comparisons.

The beauty and fashion industry ruthlessly capitalizes on our insecurities and anxieties, and at the end of the day, a movement targeted towards upliftment and inclusivity, ended up doing nothing but putting us down again. Hot Girl Summer was for everyone now, against the spirit of its origins, its back to residing in billboards and perfect Instagram ads.

Read more:

How We Loved and Lost the Hot Girl Summer - The Swaddle

Its hard to miss the sun-faded flannel shirts and garment-dyed stretch chinos and sweaters from Faherty these days. The brand has crept into the menswear zeitgeist with its chill, comfortable vibe that at the same time feels curated earning the price tag that the $78 t-shirt or $158 button-downs garner. Faherty is a hot brand and, we think, worthy of admiration.

The company is at its core a family operation. Founded by two brothers (Alex and Mike Faherty), who wanted to create the perfect board shorts. The two grew quickly, evolving into a conscious and sustainable lifestyle brand, bringing Alexs wife Kerry in as the Chief Impact Officer soon after launch.

Together they found the perfect medium for how we dress today: not too trendy nor too stuffy even with their more business casual-minded offering complete with pricier fabrics and tailored pieces, like cashmere sweaters and a line of handsome patch pocket blazers.

The basic pieces, like t-shirts and henleys, stand out in a crowd of casual-cool t-shirts and henleys thanks to small touches like garment-dyed fabric and dusty colorways, that make them more visually interesting than others in your wardrobe. But what makes them stand out or at least keeps men coming back is the quality of the products. This is clothing that is made to last shirts and pants you want to keep, youre okay with patching up, and are there with you for the long haul. But dont take our word for it: Here are a few favorites from Faherty we love enough to recommend (and wear) ourselves.

Part flannel shirt, part shirt jacket, these impossibly soft, ultra-comfortable stretch shirt hybrid are not stiff or scratchy: Its almost like wearing a T-shirt, bolstered by the utility of two front patch pockets for your everyday carry. It comes in a whopping range of colors and is easy to button up on its own or wear unbuttoned over a Faherty henley. Once you try it, you very well might want to buy one for every day of the week.

Chinos neednt be stuffy or stiff: In fact, they can be about as comfortable as sweatpants, yet with the tailored appeal of the business casual chino. The slim-straight fit of these stretch terry chinos works for most body types, while the cotton-blend fabric is extremely stretchy for ease of movement around the office and around town post-work. Three versatile, neutral colors give you the option to wear these chinos with virtually any shade of Faherty shirt for a real one-two punch of casually cool, yet polished, daily style.

The remarkable thing about Faherty menswear is how the brand manages to take pieces that can normally be a bit uptight like the blazer or the chino then turns them into surprisingly comfortable picks to wear, well, anywhere. The Reserve Blazer takes cotton, wool, and a touch of cashmere, blends it with polyester for stretch, then fashions it into a handsome patch-pocket blazer you can wear with an Oxford shirt and knit tie or else, over a graphic tee for a bit of edgy-meets-timeless style.

Fahertys surf-tinged roots make for a nice origin story, as does the fact that the company still makes a suitably retro-minded pair of board shorts. Its right in the name, after all, with a tri-stripe design that throws it back to the grand days of surfing in the 50s and 60s. The fabric is what elevates them into a modern vacation staple: Its quick-drying and made to resist wrinkles, and the 7-inch inseam should work nicely for most guys.

Before you hit the beach, equip yourself properly. Reach for a perfectly faded organic cotton pocket tee that Faherty designed specifically to call to mind vintage T-shirts youve had for years and years. The organic cotton fabric lends itself to a higher price tag, sure, but 10 color and pattern options drive home the point that this is a classic T-shirt fit for everybody.

Read more:

5 Laid Back Essentials From Faherty Prove The Hype - Fatherly

The title alone ofHow to Blow Up a Pipelinehas raised its share of eyebrowsand drawn condemnations from right-wing critics. The film, based on anon-fiction book of the same nameby Andreas Malm, depicts a fictional attempt by a group of young climate activists to take action against the fossil fuel industry. But what is the political purpose driving the film adaptationand does it actually teach viewers how to blow up pipelines? Director Daniel Goldhaber joins TRNN contributor Anders Lee to explain the vision behind the film, the intervention it seeks to make, and what lessons it can offer in a world on fire.

Daniel Goldhaberis an American director, screenwriter, and producer whose most recent work isHow to Blow Up a Pipeline

Post-production: Jules Taylor

Anders Lee: Anders Lee here. Welcome to The Real News. The movie How to Blow Up a Pipeline tells the story of five young people, all affected by fossil capitalism in different ways, who take climate justice into their own hands with an active industrial sabotage. Inspired by a nonfiction book bearing the same name, How to Blow Up a Pipeline grapples with questions of desperation, of strategy, and the roles of both violence and art in social movements. To discuss these themes and more, Im speaking with the films director, Daniel Goldhaber.

All right, today were joined by Daniel Goldhaber, the director of How to Blow Up a Pipeline, which is now in theaters. Daniel, thank you for joining The Real News.

Daniel Goldhaber: Thank you so much for having me.

Anders Lee: You conceived of this movie with a few other people during the height of the pandemic when a lot of social movements, especially the climate movement, were overtaken by a sense of powerlessness. How did the pieces come together to make this movie happen out of that?

Daniel Goldhaber: Oh, thats a big question. It was a lot of pieces. It was having a really great team to work with across the board, really amazing collaborators from my co-filmmakers to our cast and to our crew, and also to our financiers, who really gave us the support to make this movie exactly the way that it needed to be made. So this was really a team effort from start to finish.

Anders Lee: And I know the title of the movie is also the title of a book, of course, by Andreas Malm, who you had an open line of communication with throughout the process of making a film. What was it specifically about this book that inspired you to make a movie about it? And are you aware of any other nonfiction theoretical polemics that have been turned into narrative films?

Daniel Goldhaber: I dont know of any others, but if somebody knows one, I would love to be able to answer the question with that knowledge. I think that theres a number of things about the book that are really inspirational. I think reading it, you get a sense of action and activity thats very exciting. I think, obviously, the title itself suggests an action on its own, and I think that thats also very exciting, because the book doesnt actually tell you how to blow a pipeline, but it suggests immediately a movie and a genre film in which you can actually get into the details. So I think it was that perfect fusion of subject matter, of some ideas that felt really valuable to explore, and then in concert with something that could also make for a really thrilling and fresh heist film.

Anders Lee: Right. And because you were in contact with Malm, which feels like a really interesting aspect of this, what was his reaction at first when you told him you wanted to make a movie out of this? And what was it like to work with him throughout the process?

Daniel Goldhaber: I think that he was maybe initially a little bit surprised, but I think only because you dont really write a manifesto like this and expect Hollywood to come knocking at your door. I think that Hollywood is not exactly known for its radical sympathies. But after, I think, he got over that initial surprise, I think he was very excited about it. I think that he understood the ways that the movie and the book were fundamentally different, but also the ways that the movie could help communicate his message on a broader cultural level.

Anders Lee: Now you are the son, I believe, of climatologists, and you previously had made a documentary about climate change.

Daniel Goldhaber: I just worked on one as an assistant.

Anders Lee: Okay.

Daniel Goldhaber: Yeah.

Anders Lee: But one of the characters in the film is also part of a crew. He does the boom mic, I believe. What do you see having now done a nonfiction and a narrative movie about some of the same subject matter? What do you see as the main differences, and what are those experiences like in how they differ?

Daniel Goldhaber: Documentary and narrative, I think, have very different ethical considerations that you have to have in mind when you do them. One of the things about making a narrative film is youre not toying with real peoples lives. You have a different contract with an audience. And also I think that you have the ability to sometimes Something that my editor, Dan, says is that documentaries can be very good at representing the world as it is now, but not necessarily very good at representing a world that could be. And I think that with Pipeline, we very much wanted to represent a world that could be, and were suggesting and exploring a specific hypothetical action.

I think that, more specifically to the point of the problem of climate change, I think that there was a moment in which climate documentary was very valuable because there wasnt a lot of awareness. That had to be raised. And again, as the child of climate scientists and keenly plugged into just how much skepticism there has been about the movement. But I think were at the point now where, especially in a post-COVID moment, everybody on planet Earth more or less has been touched by climate change, that its critical to remember that [inaudible] is climate, and that whether or not there are holdouts in the denial category, that nevertheless, were in a place of needing to change the conversation from awareness to action. And I think that you cant really easily necessarily do that with a documentary, though Im sure that there are great docs being made today about some of the actions being taken by activists. I think that with this, we wanted to explore a hypothetical action.

Anders Lee: And it makes me think of An Inconvenient Truth thats being maybe the first wave of climate change in a cinematic way, which was, of course, came out in 2006. And do you think that a movie like How to Blow Up a Pipeline could have been made back then? Or is it unique to this zeitgeist we have in the early 2020s?

Daniel Goldhaber: I think it would just be different had it been made back then, and certainly the movie wouldve had to explain climate change to the audience. I think that one of the things that makes Pipeline a shift, or I think one of the things thats different about it in contrast to some films that have come before it is we dont really talk about Well, we do talk about the stakes of climate. We do talk about the impact of the oil and gas industry on peoples health, on peoples land, on peoples lives. But I think the movie accepts that you are aware of whats happening in the world around you. And I think that thats an assumption that, again, couldnt have really been made until a post-COVID moment.

Anders Lee: [Inaudible] spend much time debunking right-wing talking points, thats for sure.

Daniel Goldhaber: Yeah.

Anders Lee: Well, you mentioned criticism of the climate movement from the right, but it has also been criticized, perhaps unfairly, as being predominantly white, yet the cast in this movie is quite racially diverse. Im wondering if you view that casting as correcting certain tropes about environmentalists, or was it perhaps an aspirational way?

Daniel Goldhaber: In all honesty, all of these people in the film are based on real people in the climate movement or real people in our own lives that we were thinking about. I think that, obviously, there are racial divides and privilege divides in the climate movement, but in many ways those have been easing. I think, especially, its important to recognize that most people that have been most directly affected by climate disruption have been Black and Brown people, have been minority communities and poorer communities. Theyre the brunt.

The characters of Theo and Sochi were directly inspired by some Latina activists, Latina and Black activists in a community in Houston that we borrowed from a book called What Were Fighting For is Each Other by Wen Stevenson. But then you have the character, Michael, he is an Indigenous extremist, but certainly Indigenous people have been at the forefront of the climate and the environmental movement since time immemorial. And so I think that more than being a corrective, I think if its a corrective, its a corrective in trying to actually represent the diversity of the different kinds of people and experiences that have fed into the climate movement.

Anders Lee: Right. Well, something else that the characters really grapple with in the film is the term terrorist or terrorism. Certain radical scholars have argued that thats not a term people should use since it can be weaponized by the state. So its really interesting to see the characters having that same discussion. Do you agree with that assessment, or do you have an opinion on the term terrorist? Is it something that we should avoid or is it something that people who are engaged, perhaps, in industrial sabotage should take on?

Daniel Goldhaber: I dont really know if I have a clear opinion on that. Heres what I feel certain about. You have people who are being essentially turned into political prisoners of the US state using post-9/11 terrorism laws, terrorism enhancement laws that have allowed the government to charge people like Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya with terrorism for poking holes in the Dakota Access pipeline before there was even oil running through it. I think that its more important to focus on the ways that the US government is using the word terrorist and the terrorism enhancement to brand people as somehow worse than criminals, or really, fundamentally, to suppress speech and dissent and to suppress a movement thats simply just trying to protect our ability to continue living on planet Earth.

And obviously, youre seeing an even greater escalation of that tactic in Cop City in Atlanta, where completely peaceful protestors are being charged with domestic terrorism enhancements for simply attending a completely non-violent, non-destructive rally. So the only evidence being proffered being that they have dirt on their shoes because other people potentially had burned tractors. So I think that its more important to focus on those human rights abuses. And I think that, ultimately, then when it comes to the nature of how activists engage, its about whats necessary for them to defend their own speech, right to protest, and right to justice. And so I think whatever gets us there is good.

And part of the reason I dont take a strict position is I think Ive just heard both sides and positions from the movement itself. Ive talked to people who believe that you do need to defang the word [and Ive] talked to people who bristle and worry about it, because if you embrace the label, you legitimize what the states using to criminalize your speech. So its a difficult thing to navigate, but I think, again, thats why its all the more important to have eyes on what the state is doing.

Anders Lee: Right. And do you see that escalating in the coming years as the environmental movement hopefully gets more serious about these sorts of things? Are you concerned about the blowback that we could see from the federal government classifying environmental climate activists as terrorists? And what measures do you think could be taken that we havent seen yet?

Daniel Goldhaber: Absolutely. Its not even abstract. Its here. You know what I mean, its already happening. Yeah.

Anders Lee: Well, again, one of the things I found really interesting about the movie is the characters working through these problems, many of which I know you discussed with Andreas Malm. One critique of his work revolves around the concept of the propaganda of the deed, that we need a mass movement and individual acts of violence or sabotage may not be what it takes to get us there, at least on their own. How did you reconcile that argument in making the film?

Daniel Goldhaber: Can you repeat? Im a little confused about exactly which two arguments Im reconciling there.

Anders Lee: The propaganda, the deed, so industrial sabotage, for instance, do you think that its a fair critique that may not galvanize a mass movement in the way that we need? Or is that something that you incorporated by thinking into the

Daniel Goldhaber: I see what youre saying. I think Andreas does not think that there is a silver bullet to climate change. And I think that ultimately what Andreas is The way I read the book and the text is essentially as a three-part argument. There has never been a social justice movement in history that is not engaged in the disruption of civil life, and generally speaking, the destruction of property and the sabotage of the state that the climate movement and the existential threat of the climate movement and the timeline of the climate movement is such that it requires some form of escalation of tactics in order to succeed based on the historical precedence that come before it.

And then I think he makes a bit of a novel jump, which is the reason why I think his took off where other similar arguments like this have maybe not, which is to say, well, whats the target? Because I think the problem is that when it comes to climate, its such a mass systemic problem that you cant point to one industry or government or leader or individual whos responsible. We all participate in it, some to a far greater and some a far lesser degree. But you consume, and if you exist in a contemporary capitalist, especially urban, life, you are participating in the destruction of the planet. So were asking this question: what do you do if you are going to engage in these historically precedented acts, what do you attack? Because I think that theres one thing about attacking the police station when youre suffering from police violence, that target makes sense. And I think that what the conclusion Malm drives is that we need to destroy the machines that are killing us.

And beyond that, theres no ethical justification for the continued existence of fossil fuel infrastructure. This question of why is it that destroying an oil pipeline is seen as an act of violence, but the oil pipeline that destroys so many lives is not seen as a violent piece of property. So thats the argument of the book as I read it. And I think that, ultimately, thats what weve translated into the film, is its a story about eight people who believe that the destruction of this oil pipeline is an act of self-defense.

But Malm is very aware in the book that what hes discussing is what a radical flank to the climate movement would look like and how it could be defensible. Whats great about a radical flank is it does not de-legitimize more mainstream efforts to then compromise with a state and a system in order to move forward. But I think that the point that hes making is that without some sort of radical flank effort, the mainstream movement will simply always lack the leverage to do whats necessary, especially when dealing with a problem and a social ill as abstract as climate disruption.

So I think that there are criticisms of that that are in the film itself. You have characters like Alicia and Sean and other characters who are pushing back and searching, questioning why theyre doing what theyre doing. But ultimately, I think that we are trying to simply present his argument through a dramatic structure.

Anders Lee: Another thing I found really effective is a motif throughout the movie of oil refineries that made it into the background at several points. And you mentioned fossil fuel infrastructure. Do you think its fair to say that the villain of the movie isnt a person or group of people, per se, but that infrastructure itself, and how did you go about conveying that?

Daniel Goldhaber: Yeah, I think that was part of the novelized structure that the movie suggests. And its even in the sound design. We have this exactingly realistic sound design, except for the fossil fuel infrastructure, which has this larger than life dystopian vibe. And thats a way in which I think the genre of the film also supports the thematic efforts of the film, that there is no individual bad guy, there is only the infrastructure. And I think that thats very, very helpful, because I think that one of the failures of the climate movement is trying to manifest the enemy as a person when there is no single individual. I have a great belief that people actually have a fairly strong sense of moral hypocrisy. And I think that when theyre presented with moral hypocrisy, especially when youre trying to change somebodys mind, it becomes impossible. And I think that thats one of the things about this thats compelling, is that in destroying a pipeline there is at the very [inaudible] moral purity to the act and its defensibility.

Anders Lee: Well, I dont want to give any spoilers, or I guess I shouldve just warned Spoiler alert But there is a pipeline that does get blown up in the movie, and I know you did not want to use CGI for this in particular. So what was it like to produce a massive explosion like that in real time?

Daniel Goldhaber: Extremely fun. Its a good time. I think that the funny thing is it was much harder to build the pipeline than it was to blow it up. I think thats the moral of the story. And so I think, in part, just because you need to blow something up that you can clean up, isnt going to produce shrapnel, that you can actually build affordably. You cant use screws. It has to hold up under New Mexico weather conditions and high winds and rains. That was a significant challenge. The blowing it up was the easy part.

Anders Lee: And I take it you were not running oil through this pipeline.

Daniel Goldhaber: Oh, of course not. It was made out of cardboard.

Anders Lee: And you mentioned the precautions you take. Specifically what did you do to make sure this wasnt causing deleterious effects to the environment where you filmed?

Daniel Goldhaber: We just cleaned up the trash. It wasnt any more polluting than that. It was cardboard and wood. Well, I think the cardboard, I believe, was recyclable.

Anders Lee: Well, Im particularly interested in that choice because, of course, now a lot of movies rely on CGI. Why was it important to you to actually use the real life pyrotechnics and not depend on animation with this?

Daniel Goldhaber: I think its because the movie is supposed to feel real. And I think that the provocation of the movie is its immediacy and its sense that its a possibility. And it was also, honestly, to some extent, a matter of price. We explored it. Also, we couldnt have afforded a strong CGI explosion that looked halfway decent. And there is CGI enhancement to the explosion itself. We had to do some cleanup work on it, but its about getting that real plate is the big thing.

Anders Lee: Yeah. Now, some people have described this as a heist movie, an eco-heist movie. I know you yourself have said that you are genre-agnostic, so I wont ask you to categorize the movie, but what were some of the cinematic influences that you drew from in making it?

Daniel Goldhaber: Oh, I would definitely say its a heist movie. I think Im a genre-agnostic when it comes to my own work, but this is definitely a heist film, very consciously. There were a lot of different influences that went into it though. On the heist side of things, Oceans Eleven, Thief, Charlie Varrick, and its corner case movies like Army of Shadows, the Jean-Pierre Melville film, which is not really a heist film, but hes a master of heist genre, and thats a similarly political movie that is actually secretly a heist film in its structure and in the way it moves.

We were also looking at movies like Zabriskie Point, [inaudible], Battle of Algiers, If a Tree Falls, Woman at War, Night Moves. And in some cases, like Night Moves, which is by a filmmaker who I adore, Kelly Reichardt. I think we were also looking at a bit of a tendency in movies about progressive movements and contemporary progressive movements to be tragedies and movies about failure. And I think thats something that was really important to us with this film was to conceptualize success.

Anders Lee: Right. Well, that brings me to my next question. Do you have an ideal audience for this picture? And if so, what kind of thinking or action do you hope that is inspired in them?

Daniel Goldhaber: I think that its art, so I think that art that tries to inspire a particular prescriptive thing is usually not very good art. I think that the goal is to provoke conversation and empathy. And in this case, I think its to present eight characters who believe that blowing up a pipeline is an act of self-defense. So maybe challenge audiences, what do you think about that, and how does that align with your If you believe that that is true, what does that mean for the way that you think about the climate movement, the way that you think about the nature of praxis? And I think that we hope that its a film that people can come to with wherever they are politically.

Anders Lee: Well, I think thats a great note to end on. Do you have any other projects or anything in the works?

Daniel Goldhaber: Im shooting my third film right now in New Orleans: Faces of Death, and very excited to bring it to the world. Its about content moderation and cycles of violence online.

Anders Lee: Right. Well, it will be on the lookout for that, but in the meantime, Daniel Goldhaber, thank you for joining us.

Related

Read the rest here:

'How to Blow Up a Pipeline' director Daniel Goldhaber explains the ... - The Real News Network

After so many years on our big and small screens, as well as in our hearts, the Muppets are part of the zeitgeist. You'd be hard-pressed to find a person, young or old, who doesn't know about Kermit, his complex relationship with Miss Piggy, or his long list of iconic felt friends. Why then is Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem so shrouded in obscurity? The band has appeared in every major incarnation of the Muppets, from the very beginning, but with the exception of fan-favorite Animal, very few know their names or history as the Muppet's house band.

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, or just "Electric Mayhem" as they're often known, is a rock band made up of resident musicians of the Muppet Theatre. The band is usually made up of lead singer and keyboardist Dr. Teeth, bassist Floyd Pepper, saxophonist Zoot, lead guitarist and singer Janice, drummer Animal, and trumpeter Lips. Now with the band starring in their own spin-off series on Disney+, here's everything you need to know before watching The Muppets Mayhem.

RELATED: 'The Muppets Mayhem' Review: Dr. Teeth and Company Are Ready to Rock

After the success of Sesame Street which began in 1969, Jim Henson and his company featured their Muppet characters in TV segments during the early '70s, namely on Saturday Night Live. This gave Henson a taste for a more adult brand of Muppet entertainment, which encouraged him to branch out while simultaneously continuing with his children's educational programming on Sesame Street. The Muppet Show would be aimed at an adult audience, focusing on sketch comedy, and began with a TV pilot titled, The Muppets Valentine Show. The 1974 half-hour special guest-starred Mia Farrow and reintroduced '50s and '60s Muppets such as Kermit and Rowlf to a new audience.

This was then followed up by another pilot, The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence in 1975, in which the Muppets parodied the rapid growth of sex and violence on TV. Sex and Violence marked the very first appearance of Electric Mayhem, including all its usual members sans Lips. The band's introduction doesn't get much more rock 'n' roll, but America wasn't ready for such a raunchy puppet show just yet. Although this was successful in rebranding the Muppets as more adult in content (something that has since been replicated in 2015's sitcom The Muppets and 2018's The Happytime Murders) it failed to get the show picked up by ABC or any other American broadcaster at the time.

The Electric Mayhem band members were designed by creator Jim Henson and his team, including Michael K. Firth, Bonnie Erickson, Don Sahlin, and Dave Goelz. Henson and Goelz were among the original Electric Mayhem performers, which also included Frank Oz and Richard Hunt. The band resembled and represented the idea of popular bands of the '70s as a whole, and Henson and his team even based individual band members on specific musicians of the time. In look, name and character, Dr. Teeth is inspired by the American singer-songwriter Malcolm John Rebennack Jr., better known as Dr. John. This six-time Grammy winner was a celebrated New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B musician until his death in 2019.

Dr. Teeth and his band are also partly inspired by Elton John, with Gato Barbieri serving as inspiration for saxophonist Zoot and Janice Joplin directly influencing the Muppet Janice in style and in name. Karen Falk, the Jim Henson Company's historian and archivist, stated, "At that time, Jim had a strong interest in the counter-culture movement (as evidenced by his experimental film Youth '68) and sought to reflect that in the composition of the band. One proposal from about 1970 says that the band would do songs like 'Sunshine' from Hair. In fact, they are all dressed to out-hair the Hair cast." Floyd Pepper was inspired by the Sgt. Pepper-era John Lennon, and Animal is based on The Who's Keith Moon, making Electric Mayhem the world's greatest supergroup in essence.

After ABC and all other American networks passed on both pilots, British ATV producer Lew Grade agreed to co-produce The Muppet Show with Henson, debuting the series in syndication in 1976. This marked the return of Electric Mayhem as well as the first appearance of several beloved Muppet icons such as Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, and even Miss Piggy. Needless to say, The Muppet Show was a major hit over its five-season run, growing in popularity as a vaudevillian sketch-variety show. In it, Electric Mayhem took on the role of the show's house band and occasionally the pit orchestra, even welcoming guest members such Don Knotts and Hal Linden to perform with them.

During The Muppets: Sex and Violence, one musician is seen among the band who never again played with Electric Mayhem. His name was Jim. Jim was a banjo player, designed to look like Muppets-creator Jim Henson, and was usually seen as part of his other band, The Country Trio. The trio, made up of Jim, Frank and Jerry were all modeled on their respective performers, and featured in various variety shows throughout the 1970s as well as The Muppet Show. Only one Muppet musician ever joined Electric Mayhem after its debut and managed to remain a permanent member to this day, though, and his name is Lips.

During The Muppet Show's fifth and final season, the band welcomed its trumpeter Lips, who was inspired by Louis Armstrong. Performer Steve Whitmire recalls, "I wanted to do this Louis Armstrong kind of voice and at that point and time, there was some question as to whether or not we would offend African American people by this white guy doing a black voice as a trumpet player." As a result, Lips was kept quiet for decades. Dave Goelz stated in 2013 that "Whitmire has been frustrated that for thirty years he hasnt really found a character hook for Lips the trumpet player." Goelz continued to state that a few months prior to the interview, Lips was required to state "but we don't have any instruments" and in a moment of clarity, Whitmire finally discovered Lips' character and way of speaking. "The character was born after 30-odd years in labor."

The Muppets went from strength to strength, branching off into multiple movies including The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan throughout the '70s and '80s. In 1990, the band welcomed another short-lived member, during their appearance in The Muppets at Walt Disney World. Clifford first appeared the year prior, in The Jim Henson Hour where he was the bass player for Solid Foam. When playing with Electric Mayhem at Walt Disney World, Clifford took on the role of auxiliary percussionist. Clifford was a guest alongside Kermit on The Arsenio Hall Show to promote their most recent production, where he revealed he likes to be spanked and admitted that his career choices were to join either the Muppets or Milli Vanilli (with whom Clifford shares a resemblance). Although Clifford would not play with Electric Mayhem more than once, he went on to find success as the host of Muppets Tonight in 1996.

In 1992's The Muppet Christmas Carol Electric Mayhem played the role of the Fozziewig's Christmas party band, with Animal struggling to limit himself to slow Victorian-era music. They then appeared as the pirates' entertainment aboard the ship in 1996's Muppet Treasure Island and performed in the Poppyfields in 2005's The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. In the latter, they arrive late to perform backup for the Wicket Witch of the West as a result of their beaten-up tour bus, a common occurrence for Electric Mayhem's modes of transportation.

Speaking of buses, the band's 1966 International Harvester Loadstar Carpenter debuted in The Muppet Movie in 1979 and featured in that year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, solidifying its iconic status. It returned in 1999's Muppets From Space, having been updated from its classic '70s style to feature '90s appropriate CDs on the ceiling instead of 45s. After this, the original bus was auctioned on eBay for $50,000 along with a Brian Henson-signed letter of authenticity. A search was conducted by Disney in 2010 to find the original bus, so it could be featured in the 2011 movie The Muppets, but it was soon discovered to have been destroyed. A recreation was used for the reboot.

After the critical, commercial and awards success of The Muppets, ABC learned from its mistakes in the 1970s and produced an adult Muppets sitcom, this time in the workplace mock-documentary style of The Office and Parks and Recreation. It also harkened to 30 Rock in premise, as it featured the Muppets' behind-the-scenes life working on Miss Piggy's celebrity talk show. Electric Mayhem served as the show's band, and the series debuted their new wheels, a psychedelic Volkswagen Microbus. It's this new bus that features heavily in the marketing for their new Disney+ spin-off series The Muppets Mayhem, and serves as their primary mode of transport for a large portion of the new series.

After decades of being reliable supporting players in the Muppets universe, The Muppets Mayhem, which is now streaming on Disney+, finally puts the spotlight directly on the band. Current Dr. Teeth performer Bill Barretta is also a co-creator of the show, and Goelz, as he has done since the beginning, plays Zoot.

Go here to see the original:

The Totally Rockin' History of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem - Collider