Stand With Russia / Stand With Putin [2022)

Are you curious about what is going on with Ukraine?

[Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, 2. Largo]

Well, you should be.

I am.

But I am going to attempt to explain what is going on.

First of all, NATO are a bunch of fucktards.

NATO was formed to defend against the Warsaw Pact (which no longer exists) countries and against the Soviet Union (which also no longer exists).

When did the USSR collapse?

December 26, 1991.

Thirty years ago.

Did NATO disband when this happened?

Did they dissolve?

Of course not.

Why?

Because they are warmongers in disguise.

Why do I say this?

Because NATO was not satisfied to keep the amount of members it had in 1991.

Nooooooo.

It ADDED members.

And it moved in a certain direction.

Which direction was that?

Eastwards.

Towards Russia.

And now they are right on Russia’s doorstep.

Imagine if China or Russia formed a mutual defense treaty with Mexico…or even Guatemala.

And China or Russia put troops and weapons there.

To “protect” those countries against the USA.

Do you think the USA would consider that a threat?

Of course we would.

And before you say the USA is no threat…

[Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8, 1. Largo]

to Mexico or Guatemala, let’s not forget the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and/or the CIA coup in Guatemala (1954…aka Operation PBSuccess).

So let’s review what NATO has done for the past 30 years.

1999- former member of Warsaw Pact CZECHIA (Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic) joins NATO

1999- former member of Warsaw Pact POLAND joins NATO (borders RUSSIA, BELARUS, and UKRAINE)

2004- former member of Warsaw Pact BULGARIA joins NATO

2004- former region of Soviet Union ESTONIA joins NATO (borders RUSSIA)

2004- former member of Warsaw Pact HUNGARY joins NATO (borders UKRAINE)

2004- former region of Soviet Union LATVIA joins NATO (borders RUSSIA and BELARUS [the constituents of the Russian Federation])

2004- former region of Soviet Union LITHUANIA joins NATO (borders BELARUS and RUSSIA [the constituents of the Russian Federation])

2004- former member of Warsaw Pact ROMANIA joins NATO (borders UKRAINE)

2004- former member of Warsaw Pact SLOVAKIA (Czechoslovakia) joins NATO (borders UKRAINE)

2004- former region of communist state Yugoslavia SLOVENIA joins NATO

2009- former member of Warsaw Pact ALBANIA joins NATO

2009- former region of communist state Yugoslavia CROATIA joins NATO

2017- former region of communist state Yugoslavia MONTENEGRO joins NATO

2020- former region of communist state Yugoslavia NORTH MACEDONIA joins NATO

[Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, II. Adagio sostenuto (performed by Sviatoslav Richter)]

[Borodin String Quartet No. 2, 3. Notturno]

[Stravinsky Rite of Spring: Harbingers of Spring (Dances of the Young Girls and Boys)]

Let’s not forget that NORWAY (a NATO member) borders RUSSIA.

[Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, I. Non allegro]

So do you see why Russia is worried?

In addition to Norway, NATO began to further border Russia within eight years of the USSR’s collapse (with the accession of Poland).

That was 1999.

2004 was a major year of provocative, aggressive actions by NATO.

THREE MORE countries WHICH DIRECTLY BORDER RUSSIA were added to the mutual defense pact: Estonia, Latvia, and Lituania.

NATO by 2004 had added FOUR COUNTRIES to its membership which DIRECTLY BORDER RUSSIA.

The Soviet Union had ceased to exist for a mere 13 years by this point.

While it is true that NATO has not (yet) added ANY MORE states that border Russia, it has nevertheless continued to add members (mostly from the former Yugoslavia [but one former Warsaw Pact member]): Albania (Warsaw Pact), Croatia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.

[for those keeping score, five (!) NATO countries border Russia]

Albania in 2009 was, in some ways, the most audacious (provocative) move.

[Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues for Piano Op. 87, Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major (performed by Keith Jarrett)]

Why?

Because Montenegro (a 2017 accession to NATO) is actually TO THE WEST!

NATO was playing checkers.

They skipped over Montenegro.

Only to gobble it up as well eight years later.

And what is east of Albania?

North Macedonia.

A mere two years ago (2020), NATO moved further east with the accession of North Macedonia.

What is east of Europe?

Russia.

For 30 years, in an almost-uninterrupted train, NATO has moved EASTWARDS in a provocative, slow-motion attack on Russia.

Again, remember my metaphor.

What if China or Russia put troops and installations and weapons in Canada?

Oh, they can’t: because Canada is in NATO.

So let’s choose a different metaphor.

Remember when Russia put nukes in Cuba?

It was a big deal, right?

Why?

Because Havana is a mere 228 miles from Miami.

The city of Russia most closely associated with Europe is St. Petersburg.

Warsaw, POLAND (in NATO since 1999) is 729 miles from St. Petersburg.

Vilnius, LITHUANIA (in NATO since 2004) is 448 miles from St. Petersburg.

Riga, LATVIA (in NATO since 2004) is 357 miles from St. Petersburg.

Tallinn, ESTONIA (in NATO since 2004) is 230 miles from St. Petersburg.

[Prokofiev Visions Fugitives, 1. Lentamente]

[Mieczysław Weinberg Piano Quintet, 1.  Moderato con moto]

But to reiterate: there are FIVE NATO COUNTRIES that are ASS-TO-FUCKING-ASS with Russia:

Norway

Poland

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania.

I was in the middle of watching Convoy.

The Canadian Freedom Convoy had made Trudeau enact the Emergencies Act.

Truckers were (and are) headed to D.C. for the Peoples Convoy.

The COVID narrative was falling apart.

Omicron had brought the major risks of the pandemic to an end.

More damning information was emerging every day on Fauci, Moderna, Pfizer, CDC, FDA…

Here is but one example:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10542309/Fresh-lab-leak-fears-study-finds-genetic-code-Covids-spike-protein-linked-Moderna-patent.html

But now none of that matters, right?

Are you seeing any news about the truckers?

Remember they were THE ONLY FUCKING THING GOING ON IN THE WORLD just a week ago.

Every country had their own trucker protest.

[Prokofiev Symphony No. 1, I. Allegro]

Did all of that just stop?

We were up to 12,122 reports of death to the HHS VAERS system in relation to the administration of the COVID vaccines in the USA (according to the CDC’s criminally-parsed data).

Open VAERS had it at 23,615 reports of death.

And remember that these numbers should be multiplied by a factor of 10 because of the historical underreporting to the VAERS passive surveillance system.

Take a look at Kawasaki disease.

A perfect example of how, historically, LESS THAN ONE PERCENT of vaccine adverse reactions (including serious ones like Kawasaki disease) had made it into the VAERS system.

So we are talking about 121,220 deaths.

Or, probably, 236,150 deaths.

And that was as of a week ago.

But that doesn’t matter anymore.

Anyone who rammed through these #NeitherSafeNorEffective vaccines are going to pay no price for their crimes against humanity.

Why?

Because the situation in Ukraine has rendered everything else moot.

Why?

Because Russia has nukes.

And they will probably move nukes into Belarus (as that country ditched its status as nuclear-neutral today).

So the whole world is fixated on Ukraine…because if dumbass Biden and dumbass NATO somehow end up shooting at Russia, there could (pretty quickly) be a nuclear exchange.

The situation could devolve rapidly into all-out nuclear war.

What a way to make everyone forget about the past two years, right?

Why were the truckers even in Ottawa?

Because of the killer vaccines and the stupid fucking mandates.

But the threat of death and incineration by nuclear weapons has totally wiped the memory of citizens on planet Earth.

But there is something more insidious going on.

EVERY NEWS SOURCE ON THE PLANET IS MAKING ZELENSKY OUT TO BE A HERO.

AND MAKING UKRAINE OUT TO BE VICTIMS.

No mention of the backstory I gave you.

No mention that NATO has moved eastwards (for no good reason) for 30 years.

So I say, fuck Zelensky!

Fuck Ukraine!!!

I pray every night for the children and elderly of Ukraine.

But I gotta tell you something.

Ukraine fucked up.

They could have investigated Joe Biden and Hunter Biden.

But they didn’t.

And that’s a big reason why Biden is President today.

So congratulations, Ukraine!

You got the President you wanted.

Joe Motherfucking Biden.

[Kalinnikov Symphony No. 1, IV. Finale. Allegro moderato]

We are now at Defcon 2.

Some people think Defcon 5 is bad…like an F5 tornado.

Defcon 5 means the U.S. is at a state of readiness associated with peace.

Defcon 1 means the U.S. state of readiness is that of wartime or imminent nuclear threat.

A couple of days ago we were at Defcon 3.

Not great, but not horrible.

Yes, it has deteriorated.

We are now at Defcon 2.

According to public OSINT analysis.

The actual Defcon level is not made public.

https://www.defconlevel.com/

[Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture]

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Because in September Ukraine’s new publicly-released National Security Strategy included their express desire and intent to join NATO.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/russia-as-aggressor-nato-as-objective-ukraines-new-national-security-strategy/

Russia has had enough.

Russia was patient for 30 years.

Why else did Russia invade Ukraine?

Because “hero” Zelensky publicly announced approximately one year ago that his goal was to MILITARILY take back Crimea from Russia. And how was he gonna do that? By joining NATO, of course.

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3214479-zelensky-enacts-strategy-for-deoccupation-and-reintegration-of-crimea.html

So Zelensky is certainly, while not in the traditional sense, a comedian.

And his joke is his foreign policy.

Which has now led to the deaths of many of his countrymen.

What a punch line!

Let me explain one further thing.

Russia is fighting NOW so that they don’t have to fight a bigger, deadlier war LATER.

Ukrainians are stupid fucking idiots that don’t realize (or care?) that their corrupt country had a major role in looking the other way so that Joe Biden could be elected/installed.

Those dying for Russia are heroes.

Those dying for Ukraine are morons…in service to a moron government.

Russia is not communist.

Are they a little heavy-handed?

Yes.

Why?

Because pricks like George Soros try to overthrow all the countries (Georgia, for instance) in their region.

And don’t forget the recent overthrow of the Kazakh government.

Aside from Ukraine (which was the “bread basket” of the former Soviet Union [as Zbigniew Brzezinski described it]), Kazakhstan was the most important Soviet Republic.

Don’t forget that Russia went into Kazakhstan on a “peacekeeping” mission.

And they were very successful.

So Russia is heavy-handed.

Putin is heavy-handed.

Because, otherwise, Russia will cease to exist.

Putin is doing his job.

I perceive that he loves his country.

His first responsibility is TO HIS PEOPLE.

He is the leader of RUSSIA.

He is not trying to win a popularity contest.

So to all the Russians who wanna protest, get the fuck out of Russia.

Go to the paradise of the European Union.

Claim refugee status.

Whine and complain that Putin is so bad.

But Putin is protecting your culture and your people.

Let me reiterate.

RUSSIA IS NOT A COMMUNIST STATE.

China is.

Fuck China.

And Russia is far from perfect, but NATO needs to BACK THE FUCK OFF!

As an American, I suggest this:

the USA needs to immediately leave NATO.

The USA needs to also immediately expel the United Nations from New York City.

And the USA needs to exit the United Nations.

If Europe wants their own military, fine.

Call it NATO without the USA.

Donbas and Luhansk asked for Russia’s help.

Putin said yes.

Has Putin gone further than helping these two regions?

Yes.

Why?

Here is one possible reason:

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/12/10/putin-says-conflict-in-eastern-ukraine-looks-like-genocide-a75780

Putin has a responsibility to help those of Russian extraction if he can.

He could.

So he did.

Would you expect Israel to help Jews in some place in the world if they were in trouble?

Yes, you would.

What if those Jews were in a country bordering Israel?

Would you expect Israel to intercede?

Yes, you would.

Being Russian is no less special than being Jewish.

And that is why I have made this playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6m9ArhvB67gGDRosUFD78b?si=987de9a823154d80

You must get to know the works of Dostoyevsky.

Karamazov.

You must get to know the composers.

I have put them on a silver platter for you.

Like beluga caviar.

Have some egg.

Some onion.

On a cracker.

Have some champagne.

But, by all means, have some vodka while you are reading Karamazov.

[Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 18]

You must get to know the films of Eisenstein.

They transcend communism.

It is art.

Potemkin is one of the best films ever made.

And Shostakovich made brilliant, tortured music…IN SPITE OF COMMUNISM!

Gaze upon the paintings of Chagall.

Born in Belarus.

[Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker (Suite), IIb. Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy]

It is no less special to be Russian than it is to be Jewish.

And, believe it or not, one can be both.

https://tass.com/russia/1405599

[Stravinsky The Firebird Suite, Finale]

Who really started the attack?

Was it really Russia?

What about this vaunted “false-flag” that the USA government gushed about?

Did Ukraine actually start this conflict?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-22/ukraine-power-plant-damaged-during-two-days-of-shelling

2/22/22

Was Ukraine going to irradiate the region by using Chernobyl as an asymmetric weapon (a giant dirty bomb)?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chernobyl-nuclear-russia-attack-ukraine-b2022444.html

Why was Russia so insistent about taking it over?

Russia has nukes.

Russia has uranium, plutonium, etc.

Russia doesn’t need nuclear material to terrorize a region.

It already has nuclear material.

I suspect something was awry at Chernobyl.

Do you think the FSB and GRU are able to decrypt Ukrainian communications?

I do.

What are the new accessions to NATO saying?

Czechia was very enlightened to drop their vaccine mandate a few weeks ago.

But who was on the front lines of the “get Russia” parade?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/czech-president-russia-cut-off-102059014.html

For NATO, and its former Soviet/Warsaw-Pact members, it is not enough that the USSR fell apart in 1991.

THESE PSYCHOPATHS WANT THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION AND ANNIHILATION OF RUSSIA.

That is not peace.

That is not a peaceful mutual-defense organization.

NATO is the aggressor.

Russia has (finally!) acted in self-defense.

This is the last opportunity Russia has to act without the repercussions being GUARANTEED nuclear war.

Putin made the right choice.

[Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 1, 1.  Grave – Allegro ma non troppo]

China was right to side with Russia.

And I fucking hate China.

And Russia was right to side with China.

Why?

Because NATO and the moronic foreign policy of Biden forced them into it.

https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/ukraine-crisis-china-russia-war-us-b2022237.html

Remember when Biden was barely in office and he called Putin “a killer”?

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/03/joe-biden-calls-vladimir-putin-killer.html

What kind of diplomacy is that?!?

Did he go to the Rex Tillerson school of foreign policy???

But let’s get one other thing straight.

[Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade, The Story of the Kalender Prince]

There are only two mRNA vaccines approved anywhere in the world.

Ever.

In world history.

And both of them are COVID vaccines.

We are talking about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Are they approved in China?

No.

Not at all.  Not even for emergency use.

Are they approved in Russia?

No.

Not at all.  Not even for emergency use.

Why?

Because Russia and China developed their own COVID vaccines (many of them the traditional inactivated-virus vaccines).

Russia has four COVID vaccines:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_V_COVID-19_vaccine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_Light

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EpiVacCorona

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoviVac_(Russia_COVID-19_vaccine)

[the final one is an inactivated-virus vaccine]

As I have proven in many articles, the COVID vaccines available in the USA are neither safe, nor effective.

Same for those of the U.K., Australia, etc.

What do the vaccines have to do with Russia invading Ukraine?

Use your brains.

Why would Russia and China not approve the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines AT ALL in their countries?

Isn’t it interesting how they (China and Russia) have also aligned themselves in regard to foreign policy?

What do the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have to do with their shared foreign policy (if they do at all)?

So Russia has one inactivated-virus vaccine for COVID and ZERO mRNA vaccines.

You can see what China does and doesn’t have here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_COVID-19_vaccine_authorizations

But let’s get back on topic.

Have you seen Biden brag about getting Viktor Shokin (a Ukrainian prosecutor) fired while Biden was Obama’s Vice President?

Now why would Biden be so interested in a Ukrainian prosecutor?

Why would he execute a quid pro quo using American taxpayer-funded loan guarantees to extort Ukraine into firing Shokin?

Listen for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=UXA–dj2-CY

[Pauly Deathwish “Россия”]

Why, indeed?

What was Hunter Biden doing over in Ukraine?

Was he on the board of directors for Ukrainian gas company Burisma?

Was Burisma under investigation by Shokin?

Did the New York Post break this story during the 2020 U.S. election cycle?

Did Twitter lock the New York Post (third-highest circulation in the USA) out of its Twitter account for publishing and sharing the story on Twitter?

https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad/

What story did the New York Post publish the next day?

https://nypost.com/2020/10/15/emails-reveal-how-hunter-biden-tried-to-cash-in-big-with-chinese-firm/

Yes, Joe and Hunter Biden are even more corrupt in specific relation to China than they are to Ukraine (if that is even possible).  But, of course, China did nothing about this.  Because they wanted a President they could control.  So they could take Taiwan (which they will shortly do).

https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2019/11/04/report-joe-biden-pressured-ukraine-to-fire-top-prosecutor-after-burisma-lobbying-effort/

So Ukraine had the goods on Joe Biden and Hunter Biden.

But they swept it under the rug.

Because they wanted Joe Biden to win.

So that they could join NATO.

And retake Crimea by military force.

[Prokoviev Alexander Nevsky, VII. Alexander’s Entry into Pskov]

[Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, The Great Gate of Kiev]

So, I hate to say it, dear Ukrainians, but you should have been more involved in the politics of your country.

You, in effect, “voted” for Joe Biden.

Congratulations.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ukraine-prosecutor-biden-burisma-back-off-state-department-files

Are you wishing now that you had exposed Joe Biden for the corrupt piece of shit that he is?

It’s a little late, maybe, to be researching this.

But you know who else knows about this?

The U.S. military.

Where is the bravery of the U.S. military?

Are you just gonna zip your lips and go fight another pointless war so that Joe Biden can cover his ass for all the mistakes he has made during his first year in office?

https://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/468886-ukraine-to-fire-prosecutor-who-led-investigations-into-company

In case YouTube (owned by Alphabet Inc. [the owners of Google]) decide to take down the video link I posted above.

Here it is, once again:  Joe Biden BRAGGING that he got a Ukrainian prosecutor fired by dangling billions of dollars in loan guarantees over their heads.

https://rumble.com/v7u8sd-joe-biden-admits-to-getting-prosecutor-fired.html

This is not a conspiracy theory.

It is a conspiracy.

It is a factual conspiracy.

Conspiracy fact.

Joe Biden conspired to get a Ukrainian prosecutor fired.

Why?

Was that prosecutor investigating Burisma gas company–a Ukrainian company on whose board his son Hunter Biden sat?

Yes.

Shokin was investigating that.

Until he was fired.

At Vice President Joe Biden’s behest.

https://jonathanturley.org/2022/02/04/report-diplomat-complained-that-hunter-biden-was-undercutting-anti-corruption-efforts-in-ukraine/

The counterargument will be that Burisma was under investigation BEFORE Hunter Biden joined the board.

So there is nothing wrong with Joe Biden getting the prosecutor fired.

In fact, Joe Biden was actually trying to PREVENT corruption in Ukraine.

Give me a fucking break!

Joe Biden was the “point man” for Ukraine AND China during the Obama years.

Does his son, Hunter, taking a job on the board of a Ukrainian gas company that was under investigation for corruption sound like an above-board thing to do?

Never mind whether they were under investigation or not.

Why the fuck did his son join the board of Burisma while his dad was the “point man” for Ukraine?

And look at the second New York Post link I posted above.

Who was “the big guy”?

10% set aside for “the big guy”?

Hunter Biden did a big deal for a hedge fund after he and his father flew on Air Force 2 to China.

So who is “the big guy”?

Who was getting 10% of the “finder’s fee” for this deal?

Was it Vice President Joe Biden?

I think it fucking was.

That’s called SELLING THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Joe Biden was never fit to be President.

These are disqualifying CRIMES that he committed.

And Ukraine could have done the right thing and exposed it.

But they didn’t.

Great job, Ukrainians.

Thanks a lot.

Every news service in the world covered for Joe Biden.

Those same news services that are calling Zelensky a “hero” and vilifying Putin.

That same ugly chorus.

https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/01/25/fact-check-ap-says-biden-getting-ukrainian-prosecutor-fired-to-protect-hunter-is-false-narrative/

Viktor Shokin has spoken up.

There was an assassination attempt made on him.

Three shots from a sniper’s rifle.

Bulletproof glass on his office window saved his life.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/09/27/report-affidavit-ukrainian-prosecutor-joe-biden-removed-burisma-investigation/

Giuliani told you all this.

But you didn’t believe him.

You wanted to believe that Trump is a bad guy.

And maybe he is.

But Biden is far worse.

https://www.newswars.com/audio-released-of-joe-biden-pressuring-ukraine-president-to-fire-prosecutor-investigating-son-hunter/

I am no longer in support of Trump.

Because Trump has supported these moronic vaccines.

https://www.westernjournal.com/report-former-ukraine-prosecutor-files-complaint-charging-biden-not-trump-abused-power/

Wake me up when Trump calls the neither-safe-nor-effective vaccines bullshit:

https://open.spotify.com/track/3VXsCvRbs1B6BmsVoeAvrQ?si=d8b08ba45df4415a

By the way, this wasn’t just any prosecutor that Joe Biden got fired.

It was essentially the Ukrainian Attorney General.

That’s a pretty fucking big deal, right?

Did Joe Biden, whose son saw fit to cash in on his dad being Obama’s Ukraine “point man” by joining the board of Burisma, really have the moral “high ground” to tell Ukraine who should or shouldn’t be their top prosecutor?

https://www.westernjournal.com/joe-biden-probe-ukraine-top-prosecutors-firing-report/

Does the U.S. military leadership love their country (our country) as much as Putin loves his?

We should just vote Joe Biden out, right?

Three years from now.

Biden hasn’t done that bad during his first year, has he?

I mean, WWIII being imminent is no big deal, right?

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/463307-solomon-these-once-secret-memos-cast-doubt-on-joe-bidens-ukraine-story

I mean…we can make it to the mid-terms, right?

And then Joe Biden’s power will be lessened, right?

So we can make it basically another year with an imminent WWIII hanging over our head.

No problem.

I’m sure Biden will handle this with the same finesse that he handled the Afghanistan withdrawal.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/documents-heighten-scrutiny-on-biden-ukraine-dealings-indicate-hunter-may-have-made-millions

Speaking of which…General Lloyd Austin (who forced our troops to take neither-safe-nor-effective vaccines) and Mark Milley (who did nothing to stop Secretary Austin’s treasonous actions) did such a great fucking job getting us out of Afghanistan.

I’m sure Putin is shaking in his boots.

But here’s an interesting thought.

Putin is a man of ACTION.

His country was/is threatened.

He acted.

What has our U.S. military done to protect OUR country?

They just take orders, right?

Just following orders.

https://thepostmillennial.com/state-department-memos-contradict-democrats-ukraine-impeachment-narrative

I have a bad feeling that they will be following Joe Biden into oblivion…and dragging us all down with them.

The U.S. military can’t take action.

Because there’s never been a military coup in the USA.

And we wouldn’t wanna ruin that record.

If we’re gonna be nuked, might as well go out with a pristine record of civilian control of the military.

Is Joe Biden fit to be President?

Is he a criminal?

Did he sell the office of the Vice President to Ukraine and China?

How about his mental fitness?

Is he cognitively fit to be Commander-in-Chief?

I’m sure if he weren’t, people like Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten (and their two newborns [their dads’ vaginas must be aching!]) will make the right decision and take one month of paternity leave (two fathers!) rather than two…to make sure the supply chain is functioning properly and ports are working well and there aren’t any cargo ships anchored off the coast of, oh, I don’t know, Galveston, or something…and Mayor Pete (who is a WEF Young Global Leader) will invoke the 25th Amendment because Biden is cognitively not fit to lead.

And then we would have dumbass Kamala Harris as President for the next three years.

Pretty rosy picture, eh?

https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/biden-boomerang-newly-released-state-memo-casts-doubt

If Biden was removed via the 25th Amendment and Kamala was impeached (just give her time), then our President would be Nancy Pelosi.

That is the outlook for the next year.

Anyone wondering if Joe Biden really got the most votes in the history of the USA?

81 million votes.

More votes than Obama.

Because he was THAT popular!

He was extraordinarily popular in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit, but didn’t do all that well with the black populations in other major U.S. cities.

Anyone find that a bit odd?

He did REALLY, REALLY WELL in those four cities.

Like, abnormally-well.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/europe/corruption-ukraine-joe-biden-son-hunter-biden-ties.html

He was probably carried by Kamala.

Who left the Democratic Primaries due to her popularity with voters.

She was polling at less that 1% when she dropped out.

So you got the President you wanted, Ukraine!

You made a pretend effort to rectify things.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/ukraine-police-closes-biden-probe-initiated-ousted-prosecutor-n1247320

Let’s not forget about Jan. 6 (which was worse than 9/11 or Pearl Harbor).

Do you Ukrainians think you are experiencing terror and carnage?

You have no idea what AOC went through on January 6.

https://republicbrief.com/russia-threatens-military-consequences-for-2-more-countries/

Let’s just make one thing clear.

Russia is not fucking around.

Is Sweden gonna join NATO?

Not if Russia has anything to say about it.

Is Finland going to join NATO?

Over Russia’s dead body.

Russia has had enough.

They have let NATO expand–right up to their very doorstep–for 30 years.

Ukraine is the line in the sand.

“Hero” Zelensky said he wanted (and intended) to take back Crimea by military force.

He said that 11 months ago.

Then, in September, Ukraine released their national security strategy:  a stated desire and intention to join NATO.

Putin gave Biden and the West (Macron, et al.) a chance to call off the dogs.

Biden and NATO would concede nothing.

So Putin attacked.

And Zelensky is the “hero”.

And Putin is the bad guy.

And we just got out of a 20-year war in Afghanistan, so I guess it’s time for us to go fight in Eastern Europe.

In Ukraine.

How’s that Mexican border looking?

Wall finished?

Oh, we’re just gonna let immigrants walk across the border forever, right?

Because we only have 10% inflation.

So we can, obviously, afford to just take in and house the world.

Fuck it!

And Joe Biden NEEDS these voters.

These are DEMOCRAT voters.

They want socialism.

They NEED socialism.

They are poor as fuck.

And the socialism in their countries (like Mexico) was not working so well.

So they came here…to upgrade to a better socialism.

Except for the fact that we didn’t become a wealthy country because of socialism.

Quite the opposite, actually.

But anyway…send our military to Ukraine.

Make sure Ukraine’s sovereignty is protected.

And fuck American soverignty, right, U.S. military?

But how about the biolabs?

Were there biological (and chemical?) weapons in Ukraine?

Did Putin just bomb the sites?

Was the real “false-flag” gonna be a bioterror release by NATO to take over (close) the Bosporus and occupy Ukraine?

Was NATO going to release a bioweapon in Ukraine?

Were United Nations “peacekeeping” forces going to occupy Ukraine?

Did Putin preempt this plan by blowing up their biolabs?

https://www.opindia.com/2022/02/russia-ukraine-invasion-bioweapons-labs-patrushev-putin-wuhan-coronavirus/

If Fauci (and Daszak and Baric) was involved in the creation of COVID-19, then it wasn’t solely China’s fault.

China stood to gain.

Always ask, “Cui bono?”

But who were the American players?

If DARPA did indeed refuse the EcoHealth Alliance (Daszak) proposal to develop a “bat vaccine” (which was to be sprayed into caves in China), did NIAID (under Fauci) accept the proposal?

Was EcoHealth Alliance a front for the CIA?

What about the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Fort Belvoir?

Why do they still have an ongoing contract with EcoHealth Alliance to study bat-borne disease in “Western” Asia?

Hm.

Western Asia, eh?

Like Ukraine???

Turkey is key.

Dividing line between Europe and Asia, right?

And St. Petersburg is a European city.

But what is really the dividing line of Europe and Asia in respect to Russian territory?

Where does Europe end and Asia begin?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9717133/Congress-demands-investigation-2019-Wuhan-Military-Games-athletes-showed-COVID-symptoms.html

What about the World Military Games?

Do you trust China?

I don’t.

But is there something to this story that COVID-19 started WAY BEFORE December 2019 (January 2020 in the USA)?

Are a bunch of people just trying to cover their asses?

Who planned the plandemic?

If it were a murder investigation (and it should literally be), the three prime suspects should be:  Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates, and Anthony Fauci.

Beyond them, I would throw in Pope Bergoglio and Prince Charles as very strong suspects.

But of those three–Schwab, Gates, and Fauci–they had the trifecta:  means, motive, and opportunity.

They were, to extend the metaphor, caught red-handed at the scene of the crime.

Throw in Peter Daszak.

Throw in Stephane Bancel of Moderna.

What about Ralph Baric?

And don’t forget the Chinese in Wuhan.

“Bat lady”.

The only relevant thing Trump has done recently was to “praise Putin”, but then he turned around and called Zelensky a hero.

https://www.infowars.com/posts/trump-praises-putin/

Trump has made himself completely irrelevant with his stance on the COVID vaccines available in the USA.

But, hey:  if you’re French, I have good news for you:

https://www.infowars.com/posts/france-deactivates-covid-vaccine-passports-months-ahead-of-expiration-in-effort-to-force-people-to-get-booster-jab-sooner/

There’s only one problem:

https://www.infowars.com/posts/video-canadian-mp-accused-of-spreading-disinformation-for-pointing-out-wefs-corrupt-influence-over-trudeaus-govt/

is Putin controlled by Klaus Schwab?

Schwab brags in a video (in the above article) that Putin was a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (WEF [Davos]).

Who are the other big feathers in Schwab’s cap?

Merkel, Trudeau, Macron, Ardern, De Croo, Sanna Marin…

It is possible (as of last week) to verify Macron, Ardern, De Croo, and Sanna Marin (as well as Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard, and Maria Bartiromo) here:

https://www.younggloballeaders.org/community

My gut tells me that former-Stasi (KGB) operative Vladimir Putin went to YGL to COLLECT INFORMATION.

Same with Maria Bartiromo.

As for the rest?

Fuck ’em!

Gabbard?

A fucking fake.

-PD

bucolic [2021)

It starts just like Charlotte Gainsbourg.

5:55.

Air.

Nigel Godrich.

But there is something different.

A shruti box?

A little distorto guitar.

Ah, yes.

Chuchotements.

Françoise Hardy.

A little Yo La Tengo.

Built to Spill.

Guitar carries it for a second.

Good lyrics.

All mood.

And then into an Amon Düül II warble.

Like Marc Bolan.

Jim Carrey.

Most annoying sound in the world.

Into Pink Floyd.

David Gilmour.

Circa The Wall.

Strange sadness.

Almost a premonition of impending doom.

Calm before the storm.

J. Spaceman telephony.

Floating with no highs and no lows.

All mids.

Strong opening track.

Very slow-moving.

Luxurious.

Immediate Delgados shift.

Paul Savage.

Pauly Deathwish.

Glasgow effect.

Great counterpoint for a pop musician.

But if you check this bloke’s CV…

You’ll know he went through Fux.

Gonna have to say Elliott Smith.

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.

Megan Childs violin.

Around the warm fire.

Welsh.

Expansive.

Strings open up.

Hate.

More Fridmann.

Pointillism.

Schoenberg.

Timbre.

Richard James.

GZM.

Beethoven.

Another Welshman.

John Cale.

Orchestral bass that Lou loved.

This guy’s a bastard.

Jaded.

Hurt.

Is this a breakup album?

I thought the last one was a breakup album?

Ahhh…

Into Gorwel Owen.

1968.

Floyd.

Atom.

Mad cow.

The last GZM album.

Rockfield.

Bohemian.

String band.

Money never runs out.

Cheap air organ.

Tubes?

Fan.

A very apropos album title.

Woody.

Tobacco.

Spring water Scotch.

And then the Great Reset arrives.

Like a fucking spaceship.

Dark shit.

What is this glitch business?

Thom Yorke blasts upon the scene.

Drums James Brown.

Good groove.

Savvy.

Whoa!

Marching band.

Drumline.

Snares.

Caught by Lee “Scratch”.

Guitar all mangled.

Melodies solid.

Mogwai?

Bert Jansch out of fucking nowhere.

Definitely Lips.

Pet Sounds.

Track rejected by Bond franchise.

Convincing.

Acoustic to electric.

Now it’s Serge.

Requiem.

Stereolab.

Break beat.

Absolutely boffo.

BOF.

More Brian Wilson.

Van Dyke Parks.

Phil Spector.

High Llamas.

Still a sadness.

That the old world is passing away.

FUCK!!!

Right into some Leonard Cohen shit!

Scott Walker.

How the FUCK was this recorded?

Sounds like 2″ tape.

Question:

how has this Pauly Deathwish released three albums in two months?

I can’t even keep up with this guy.

Mercury Rev.

Deserter’s Songs.

Levon Helm.

Chamberlin.

Mellotron?

Like a Christmas album.

See You on the Other Side.

David Fricke.

A review in the liner notes.

“Everlasting Arm”.

Definite vibe.

Record pillaging wizard.

Baritone.

Lots of fucking glockenspiel on this record.

But it’s nice.

Like Ennio Morricone.

Cinema Paradiso.

Mandolins.

Jackie Gleason.

Dean Martin.

Herb Alpert.

Tchaikovsky.

Again with sugar plum.

Slick!

Very light.

Chiaroscuro.

Fresher than the sweetness in water.

Hearing Dungen.

IV Thieves.

Makes sense.

“Frenchie” Smith.

Dig CV.

Light, British, airy.

Good hook.

Hooky.

Is this the single?

A little neo-psych Hendrix moment.

It’s definitely GZM.

Repetition until transcend.

Stereolab first album.

Not looped.

Manuel.

Carpenters.

Messiaen.

Definitely some breakup here.

Sonic Youth.

Sister.

Experimental.

Thurston.

Lots of drum machine.

Drum and bass.

Panning.

Definitely holds up with Radiohead.

How the fuck was this made?

PD tells us that it was all made on an iPhone with only a Telecaster.

That is some serious trickery.

Ear fooling.

This is COMPLEX music.

Mixes sound polished.

Clarity.

Some Chinese stuff.

Noise floor fucked for the first time ever.

Bacon?

Rollerskate Skinny.

It’s THAT good.

Shoulder Voices.

How was this made?

This heralds a new talent.

But this bloke is 44.

Tour sponsored by Ensure.

Not hearing a sophomore slump here.

Two albums in two months.

Review third forthcoming.

This dude is emo as fuck.

I dig it.

This guy is a mystery.

What is his deal?

This sounds more like a cohesive album that Introversion.

Introversion sounds like a debut album…in all the best ways.

Songs saved up.

A greatest hits.

Go big or go home.

This album deals much more in subtlety.

Not every song here is a home run.

This album breathes.

Ambiance.

Negative space.

More Beach Boys vibes.

70s.

Sad.

Bathrobe.

But mentally sharp.

A spark of genius.

A little bluegrass.

Bill Monroe.

Dock Boggs.

The old world is passing away.

Jonny Greenwood.

Georges Bizet.

Live forever.

Nonesuch.

Elektra.

Hoyt Ming.

Incredible String Band.

Wales, Scotland.

Back and forth.

And across to Ireland.

Oh, no.

There’s the single.

“Makes Me Wanna Stay in Bed”.

Emma Pollock.

Hate is all you need.

Coming in from the cold.

New Radicals.

Delayed bass from The Wall.

Pavement.

Spoon.

Good fucking song!

Eisteddfod.

All Is Dream.

Hard following up.

Unenviable.

Emma Pollock solo.

With Alun Woodward singing.

The Great Eastern.

New Spiritualized.

Banjo.

Let It Come Down.

Abbey Road.

Coldplay.

A Rush of Blood to the Head.

This bloke is serious as fuck.

Sad eyes.

I’m sensing a Jandek promotional strategy.

Final track Richter.

Ravel.

Emperor.

Philip Glass.

Conlon Nancarrow.

City/country dichotomy.

Urban/rural.

Urban encroaching.

Something felt.

Big symphony night.

Excitement of New York Phil.

The fucking french horns!

Automation.

A story in dynamics.

Lesson.

A folk album.

bucolic.

Pauly Deathwish.

iTunes.

Spotify.

-PD

Introversion [2021)

Teenage Fanclub.

That glow in The World’s End.

But a sadness.

THE sadness.

Emily Dickinson.

Unrequited.

Unattainable.

My Bloody Valentine.

Sloshy grunge hats.

Edge echo.

Chris Bell.

I Am the Cosmos.

Yerself Is Steam.

Slowdive.

Rutti.

Brian Eno.

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Tom Petty.

You don’t know how it feels.

J. Spaceman.

Abbey Road.

Air.

George Martin.

Beck.

Badfinger suicides.

Loser.

Spiritualized.

Royal Albert.

I can only give you everything.

Rick Danko.

Loping.

The Delgados.

Dave Fridmann.

Black magic warded off by honesty.

Good timing.

Divine.

Sigur Rós.

Nigel Godrich.

Pocket symphonies.

Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Serge on the way.

Lenny Bruce, even.

Hit to Death in the Future Head.

Wait at least until track three to break it down.

Southern Harmony and Musical Companion.

Gorecki.

Arvo Pärt.

Deserter’s Songs.

Absolutely.

The confusion of ridiculous counterpoint.

Aaron Copland.

Tonal, yet dissonant.

Thick Billy Corgan.

Siamese Dream.

Definitely a sadness here.

Dawn Upshaw.

Tabula rasa.

Death.

Immense Mellotron.

Tchaikovsky.

Abrupt modulation.

Sugar plum.

Lou Reed.

Ennio Morricone.

Cinema Paradiso.

All you need is hate.

Upstate.

Chaliapin.

Basso profundo.

Jussi Björling.

Dvořák.

Memorial day.

The Inflated Tear.

Columbus, Ohio with duct tape.

Debussy.

Posing with a bass clarinet.

Primal Scream.

Get Duffy.

Rock ferry.

Smokey Robinson.

Sad clown.

Dead clown.

Kinks.

Grasshopper.

Suzanne.

Woodwind quintet.

Did I ever write one?

Yes, I did.

César Franck.

Saint-Saëns.

Organ symphony.

Or is it contrabassoon?

Nadia Boulanger can tell you.

My teacher’s teacher (twice over).

The Left Banke.

LSD.

Herb Alpert?

Hummel.

Handel.

Strawberry fields.

Stereolab.

Unequivocally.

Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements.

A little lo-fi.

Vocal doubled.

Vox continental.

Great hook.

Changes that pull at your heartstrings.

More melancholy.

A fucking marimba solo?!?

Are you kidding me???

Makes sense.

Pauly Deathwish collaboration with Gordon Gano of Violent Femmes.

Lost Bayou Ramblers.

Gordon knew him as Death.

I have become death.

96 Tears.

Farfisa.

Partials.

Tim Gane tone.

Faust IV.

Doogie Howser?

Scary.

Impending.

Suspense.

Rock bass.

Ozzy.

Black Sabbath.

Amazing Grace.

Pete Townshend.

Front.

Back to J. Spaceman.

Dirty ass rock and roll with pristine horns.

Expensive drugs.

Sophisticated changes.

Éminence grise?

Is this the artist we’ve been waiting for?

Rodriguez?

R. Stevie Moore?

Wesley Willis?

Sounds like Jack Nitzsche.

Major Velvet vibes.

Suck-ceed twice.

Dylan with P-bass.

Mick Taylor.

Too much attitude.

Keith Richards.

Let it Come Down.

Shakespeare.

Fucker kicked the bucket.

First to be vaxxed.

Maricopa.

First Suicide album.

Bossa nova.

The Soft Bulletin.

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.

Gimme some lovin’?

Steve Winwood?

How old?

La Monte Young.

Slow changes.

First rehearsal tapes.

Alan Vega.

Martin Rev.

New York City heroin.

Warhol Factory torn down.

Across from YMCA.

Trump dances.

Great throwaway lyrics.

George Harrison.

Sound of universe.

Spacemen 3.

Savage tone.

Revolution.

Direct into mixing console.

Fried signal.

White album.

Sonic Youth.

Derek Bailey.

Lou ecstacy.

Late Lou.

European son.

Blood pressure rising.

Brutal.

Frankie Teardrop.

I think I’m in love.

Dub bass.

Will the circle remain unbroken?

When I had dinner with Roky.

13th Floor.

First Velvets album.

Heroin.

Drug rush.

Invincible.

But you gotta buy it.

Dirty Baltimore.

Cop shoot cop.

Cheree.

On the jukebox.

Eat at the gas station.

On tour.

First time in Texas.

American Supreme.

Iceland.

13 Angels.

It’s definitely Bowie.

New career.

Same town.

New old.

Old is new again.

Mercury Rev.

Savvy programming.

Dynamics.

Break beat.

A fuck ton of flutes.

Flute loops literally.

Bowie sax.

Little fluffy clouds.

Every drop.

Gay glam chorus.

Tony Visconti.

Don’t underestimate.

Pere Ubu.

First album.

Méliès.

Boys peel out.

Boces.

Inspector Clouseau.

Phone.

French ambulance.

Pants.

Gives me pants.

Videogames.

Cutting hole.

Pink Panther.

Herbert Lom.

A Shot in the Dark.

Grandaddy.

Under the Western Freeway.

Weeping willow.

Under that.

With Sean Mackowiak.

Square waves.

WarGames.

Tympani.

Rollerskate Skinny.

Dublin.

Kevin Shields.

Comes back loud.

One song mastered soft.

Definitely Low.

The main influence of Pauly Deathwish’s debut album.

Honegger.

Pacific 231.

Chariots of fire.

Vangelis.

Such a groove.

Nancarrow.

Polyrhythm.

Immense sadness.

By the side of a freeway.

Under an underpass.

Not like RHCP.

Much darker.

Like Godspeed.

Philip Glass.

Eno.

Blackstar.

How did a Trump supporter make this album?!?

I thought all Trump supporters were redneck morons???

This is way fucking better than Ariel Pink’s dabblings.

This sounds like a debut album.

Songs saved up.

Like The Strokes.

Cinematic as fuck.

Glitch Radiohead.

Trail of Dead.

Makes sense.

Because Pauly wrote the string arrangement on IX.

Dark.

Killers.

Disco compression.

Distressed.

These lyrics!

Johnny Rotten.

Trump 2021.

Snot on the crowd.

Arcade Fire.

Makes sense.

Lost Bayou Ramblers lost sessions.

Montreal studio.

This was all made on an iPhone?!?

Guy Debord.

Aladdin Sane.

Time.

Rick Wakeman?

Olivier Messiaen.

Major 7ths in uppermost range of piano.

Almost indistinguishable from octaves.

Eerie.

Slight.

Only for the sensuous ear.

The Wall.

Waters delayed bass.

No nonsense drums.

Humble Pie reference?!?

Ha!

Great lyrics!!

Predating new Bob Dylan album.

Check SoundCloud timestamp.

This is definitely the QAnon anthem.

This hook should be on a million conspiracy videos.

“10 Days of Darkness”.

Tell ’em Large Marge sent ya!

My end is my beginning is my end.

Grinderman.

No pussy.

Early-’90s.

Nirvana’s wake.

Finnegans Wake.

Great debut album (if I do say so myself).

Usual suspects.

Spotify.

iTunes.

Pauly Deathwish.

-PD

Yang Tidak Dibicarakan Ketika Membicarakan Cinta [2013)

By the grace of God I bring you this film review tonight.

Last night I was not feeling well enough to write.

And so I am happy to give you my first review of an Indonesian film.

It is a wonderful piece of cinema and is available on Netflix in the U.S. currently as What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love.

I will just say this.

Any film which includes a character sneezing his glass eye out of his head is ok by me.

Which is to say, this is a pretty strange film.

But it is not strange in an uptight, contrived, David Lynch sort of way.

Perhaps it is the basic situation which makes this film quixotic.

The bulk of the “action” takes place at a “special” school (as it is called in the subtitles).

The beautiful young people at this school all struggle with visual impairment.

There is, however, one very important character who is sighted yet cannot hear.

[We will get to him in due time]

When I tried to watch this film last night, I was not feeling very well (as mentioned previously).

And so in my debilitating moments of bubbling, dull panic I was trying to first situate this film culturally.

There was some blurb about a Dutch film fund.

And the real bit of text at the head of the film which threw me off the scent:  a reference to the Busan film fund.

Knowing Busan, I figured, “Great!  I am watching a South Korean film.”

I felt somewhat comfortable marginally knowing the cinema tradition in which I had just entered.

But as I saw women and young girls in Muslim garb, I began to question.

Indeed, even on tonight’s complete viewing, it was only 3/4 of the way through the film that I realized I was watching an Indonesian production.

Call me stupid.

Fine.

But this is not a cinema (nor a language) with which I have any experience.

It was only when I saw Jakarta on the side of a bus that I felt fairly confident where the story had been set.

So yes, this is an Indonesian film in Indonesian (or dare I say Malay).

The scope and breadth of this language is not altogether clear to me, but it seems that Indonesian is a “register” (in linguistic terms) of Malay.

Being the dunce that I am, “register” seems an awful lot like “dialect”, but I’m sure most linguists would roundly dismiss this generalization.

Perhaps “jargon” is a better synonym for “register”.

In any case, Malay (of one type or another) is spoken by about 290 million people worldwide.

But we will stick to the term Indonesian (as per the language).

Our whole film is in that language (except for one line in Javanese).

Javanese, unlike Indonesian, is not a form of Malay.

It is quite distinct.

But on to the movie!

First we must pay our respects to the highly-talented director:  Mouly Surya.

Based on a cursory search, this would be Mr. Surya (Mouly being far more common as a male name).

Ah…but thank God for research!

Our director, in fact, is MS. Surya.

She is a 36-year-old native of Jakarta.

But really, male or female, this is an obvious work of cinematic art.

What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love isn’t perfect, but it’s frighteningly close.

Which isn’t to say it’s frightening.

It’s not.

But it’s a film which sneaks up on you.

Cineastes may be familiar with the term “slow cinema” which has been bandied about here and there especially in recent years.

There may be some of that here…like when the character Diana combs her hair exactly 100 times.

[I was sure she was going to stop at 88…that number being good luck in Southeast Asian cultures]

Indeed, we are with the character for a seemingly interminable session of hair-brushing at her “boudoir”.

However, that is one of the few times where the “slow cinema” idea has our film run astray temporarily.

Other uses of the technique (an extreme of Deleuze’s “time-image”?) are quite effective and evoke the loneliness of sightless life.

Granted, no two lives are the same.

But the Indonesia pictured in our film is not an economic wonderland.

Quite the opposite.

It is a rather humble school in which students have very basic accommodations.

And as is so often the case, economic struggles exacerbate and compound coexisting problems.

But don’t get me wrong:  it appears that the students portrayed actually have it very lucky in the context of their nation (all things considered).

Arguably the star of the film is Karina Salim.

Her situation is one of ballet lessons…and a doting mother.

That said, her roommate has a family which is struggling economically.

It is a strange juxtaposition.

But let’s focus on Ms. Salim.

Her acting is really fantastic.

Whether she is blind in real life, I know not.

But her portrayal of the character Diana is in the great tradition of pathos which touched on the works of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.

The French adjective pathétique.

In English, we (if I may speak for us English speakers) tend to regard pathétique as descriptive of poetic pathos.

Deep expression.

And that is exactly what Karina Salim exhibits in her delicate acting throughout this film.

Her character, Diana, is right on the cusp of womanhood.

And in a very moving set of sequences, we see her quietly preparing her underwear for the week.

The moment of her first menstruation is a cause for secret celebration.

Indeed, she shares this ascent to adulthood with only her mother…on a joyous little phone call which we overhear.

Which brings us to culture.

We almost feel embarrassed knowing this intimate detail of character Diana’s life.

But American films are so much more explicit in so many ways.

Perhaps we are shocked because the reality of womanhood is rarely addressed in Hollywood movies.

And so we see that Hollywood still has taboos.

In this age in which anything goes, honest depiction of mundane-yet-visceral life realities (such as menstruation) are all but absent (save from a film like Carrie [1976]).

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this particular kind of honesty about femininity onscreen.

But what the hell do I know?  I’m a dude.

So let’s back to the film.

While Ayushita is very good as Diana’s roommate, it is really Nicholas Saputra who is the other star of this film.

His character is a deaf punk rocker.

[Let that one sink in for a second]

Every day he has a different shirt.

The Sex Pistols.  Led Zeppelin (?!?).  The Clash.  Joan Jett.

He definitely has the best hairstyle in the film.

[A strange zig-zag bleach job which I’ve never seen previously]

His character Edo is a social engineer par excellence.

Yes, there is some trickery in this film.

But it is not malicious.

Or if it begins as malicious, it is transformed into something quite beautiful.

[think Amélie]

But here’s where things get really strange.

There is really no decorous way of putting this, but there are a few characters in this film which pop up from time to time…AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THEY ARE!

There is a rather tasteless meme going back generations that all Chinese people look the same to a Westerner.

[And, perhaps, all Brits (for instance) look the same to a Chinese person]

But, again, there are some characters in this film which seem to be playing out some subplot which escaped me completely.

Indeed, I have so rarely seen anything like it that I can only associate my confusion with that felt by so many in relation to the surreal Howard Hawks narrative in The Big Sleep.

Granted, in our film this is a very minor element.

But it is still disorienting.

Was there some series of edits which mangled this film?

Can I really not tell one Indonesian person from another?

I don’t know.

You’ll have to see it for yourself.

And explain to me exactly what is going on.

For instance, does the blind character Andhika somehow learn how to drive a Vespa around town?

And is he cheating on Diana?

Or is Diana cheating on herself?

Are there two Dianas?

Again, a few scenes completely lost me.

But they do not ruin the general continuity of this film.

If anything, they add a mercurial charm to the whole affair.

And so I wholeheartedly recommend this film which portrays a side of life on which many of us are completely uninformed.

Visual impairment.  Braille.  Hearing impairment.  The difficulty of asking a clerk at 7-Eleven, “what kind of cigarettes do girls buy” in sign language.

And there is beauty in this world.

The appreciation for just a glimmer of sight (however blurry).

And yet, the difficulty of EVERY SINGLE TASK.

Most of all, this is a love story.

Two love stories (at least).

[not counting the extraneous players which pop up here and there]

But it is a very, VERY unique love story.

For me, it is an incredibly moving film because of the acting of Karina Salim and also Anggun Priambodo (who plays Andhika).

So take an adventure to Jakarta.  Capital of Indonesia.  World’s fourth-most-populous country.

While Indonesia is approximately 87% Muslim, this film portrays a diversity of religious devotion.

Indeed, while one student prays, another listens to a radio play (as one would have heard in the days of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce on The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [1939-1946]).

Indeed, this scene of overlap…with religion in the background (the praying student) and learning in the foreground (listening to a lesson?  or just a bit of entertainment for the girls who live at this school?) is one of the most fascinating from a visual and cultural perspective.

I cannot pretend to know what is going on in all of the footage.

And so an expert on education for the visually impaired in Indonesia would perhaps be able to elucidate some of the more esoteric aspects of this film.

In the meantime, enjoy!

-PD

Les Misérables: Liberté, liberté chérie [1934)

Tonight, a miracle happened to me.

For a lonely film critic, that can mean only one thing:  love.

And so I thank GOd for a moment of happiness.

No, I am not drunk beyond syntactical awareness.

I am merely thinking of Catherine the Great.

1729-1796.

Russia.

Екатерина Алексеевна.

But then I am also thinking of the Panthéon.

Paris.

First came Mirabeau.

1791.

A mere three years.

And then Voltaire.

Ah!  Now we are getting somewhere!!

Émile Genevois, like Jonathan Donahue, thinks of “Little Rhymes” when he’s alone and scared.

This is the character Gavroche.

Sous les pavés, la plage.

Mai ’68.

And then the beautiful Marat in 1794.

And still Catherine lived.

Charlotte Corday died.  Aged 24.

Back on track with Rousseau.

The barricades.

Rue Saint-Denis.  From the June Rebellion of 1832 to the sex shops of 2016.

Prostitution.

Vive la République!

And then the dream of Catherine the Great (второй) came to an end.

Night falls…

Reality.

Yes, maybe it was Katharine Hepburn instead.

Too pure!

But what I’ve lived my life for.

Dedicated.

Misguided.

Recalibrated.

Sad but honest.

Just a simple car ride.

Like Homayoun Ershadi in طعم گيلاس

There is no putting any punctuation on that.

No catafalque of Lamarque.

Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude.

à son ami Franz Liszt

November Uprising.  1830.  1831.

Poland and Lithuania.

And back to that Russian Empire of Catherine (and Пётр before her).

It’s funny.

In Honegger we might hear shades of Tchaikovsky.

The Arabian Dance we know so well from The Nutcracker Suite.

Coffee.

Divertissement.

Act II (второй).

Tableau III.

It wasn’t a diacritical mark.  It was merely a speck of dirt on the screen.

In the half-light.

With cat eyes.

Pray to goD for another chance to hold the coins of long suffering.

Through the sewers of Paris.

I thank you for that blessing of weight lifted momentarily.

 

-PD

 

 

Die Büchse der Pandora [1929)

Elle est une femme fatale.

Thus sang the chorus.  Der unsichtbar Chor.

On Big Star’s cover of The Velvet Underground.

Third/Sister Lovers.  Alex Chilton from Lou Reed.

And so if we want to really know the prostitute in Vivre sa vie (Godard’s best “movie”), then we must see G.W. Pabst’s Die Büchse der Pandora.

Pandora’s Box.

Is empty.

See Mulholland Dr.

Blue key.

Lighting.

Her hair.

Louise Brooks.

The gloss of her brunette bob.

Yes, this film is many things.

Confusing?  Yes.

Boring?  Yes.

Genius?  Absolutely.

And here is why.

The two climaxes.

One would fit seamlessly into Fritz Lang’s M…or virtually anything by Alfred Hitchcock.

But the other climax?

It is seconds before.

And worlds more important.

A candle.

Like Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation album.

Two lost souls.

Dreaming.

One is reflecting on a messed up life.  Perhaps.

The other is a messed up life reflecting on nothing.  Just content with a moment’s peace.  Maybe.

Together.

The misfits.

Soon consumed by cataclysm.

An act of God.

Or its opposite.

What I mean to convey is that G.W. Pabst did something remarkable with this film.

It really does read (watch?) like Mulholland Dr. or The Big Sleep.

Something is missing here and there.

Sound!  (for one thing…)

I’ve said it before, but it really does matter who picks the music for these silent films.

It takes some research to know whether the version which has come down to you has anything to do with any official release which might have happened in the year of said film’s premiere.

What I got was Tchaikovsky…and “Greensleeves”…

But, most remarkably…it is the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (by Пётр Ильи́ч) without the soaring love theme…which is to say, it is the build-ups…the violent cymbal crashes…the angular solemnity which Dvořák’s 9th Symphony also shares (particularly the bold final movement).

But none of this really matters.

What matters is Lulu.  Nana.

Alban Berg.  “Das Messer ist blutig…”

Émile Zola

The fine print.

Frank Wedekind

October 24, 1929

the fear index

abnormally low?

who was ready on December 1st to see the premier of Pandora’s box in new York city?

Yes, I’m afraid the world runs on fine print.

And so the glamorous flapper Lulu had a tortuous go of it (behind the scenes).

The difference between men and women.

Every word is labored now.

Because once you are caught in a font it is a vicious circle.

And so I only urge:

press on through the boredom for at least there is a candle.

-PD

Limelight [1952)

I didn’t know movies could be this good.

Where have they been keeping this all of our lives?

Us.

When I was young I stumbled into The Gold Rush.  25/52.

And I lived at the end of a flower in City Lights.

So I knew.

But I forgot.

That Charlie Chaplin was the most vivid outcast—the great romantic on rollerskates.

And the miracle?

Claire Bloom lives.

No Sylvia Plath ending.

And Charles Chaplin lives.

As much as Baudelaire’s vieux saltimbanque.

It was her first film.  Bloom.

Age 21.

And now she is 84 years young.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

No one told me films could be miracles.

It’s kinda like Thora Birch.

Buster Keaton.

People thought she stopped working.

But it wasn’t true.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////

No greater love have I seen for an art.

Like Pierre-Auguste kissing the canvas…and then painting.

You can’t simply say Renoir in film and let it linger…

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tell Tchaikovsky the news.

The first chord.  In Moscow perhaps.  And all 122 pages fall onto the keyboard.

A thunderous vibration like Chaliapin.

Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин

Boris Godunov.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

A drinking problem.

Stage fright.

Torn and frayed.

At the edges.

In the wings.

Wings.

Ah yes…I haven’t heard that name in a long time.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The piano was unprepared.

A cage of equal temperament.

And so we removed the great nest

of cosmic dissonance.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Don’t get me wrong.

I love a good cluster chord.

An honest, flawed note.

Take your dissonance like a man…someone said…maybe Henry Cowell.

On second thought, ’twas Ives.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I’ve spent my life in a drum.

Like Keith Moon.

A human projectile.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

88 ways to look at a blackbird.

I’ve never seen one person leave it all on the stage quite like that.

A lifetime’s work.  Painted.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The film was in black and white?

I didn’t happen to notice.

Because behind my eyes the colours were bursting.

U.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

And so like those little speckles in the concrete which the moon caught.

As I dreamt of being a composer.

And I too dove headfirst into the void like Yves Klein.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

And for us it was no sleight of hand.

There was no airbrushed net.

And I landed hard.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gandhi is smiling and that’s all that matters.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

between yell and Yale

bell strut feet dill old pod loot.  Look!

88 ways to be a composer and an itch ain’t one (bite me!)

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Film is completely unimportant when writing about film.

Take Hubert’s Flea Circus on 42nd St.

I would never have known were it not for Nick Tosches.

And my favorite book:

Where Dead Voices Gather.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Yeah, but it’s like Picasso’s musicians.

You think I’ve really cracked up.  Craquelure.

“Any fish bite if you got good bait.”

They tell us in economics there’s only one Mona Lisa.

Because the painter is dead.

Only one…

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Because he’s not alive to paint another.

Another Mona Lisa.

Unlimited supply.  EMI.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

You’re driving at something.

I just know it.

Because the film was too long.  And too good.

Not possible, Likert.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Many aw-kward moments of perfection.

Where Chaplin hit too close to home.

Was it Dave Davies?

“Death of a Clown”

Yes, precisely.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It can’t be described conventionally.

You can’t just go to the Grand Canyon and say, “Vast.”

Was ist das?

Ja!

That is what I’m trying to say.

-PD

Gummo [1997)

When the rain comes down…in the swimming pool…and rabbit ears has his pink life…kissed by movie stars.

Rabbit ears isn’t so lonely anymore.  Literally hovering over the highway.  Chain-link crosswalk.  Loitering.

Rabbit ears had it bad in the dump.  Got beat up by stereotypes.  Shot with cap guns.  But the words real hurtful.

I wanna add my own appendix to this here masterpiece.  And so’s I goes on the Google and finds pictures.

They say a boy can’t be beautiful.  Just handsome.  And a taxi…a cab.  Can only be hansom.

We’ll get to your favorite scene in due time.  Just tape that bacon to the tile.  We’ll be returning.

I wanna add my own art to art already made.  Found footage.  Found emotions.  On the junk heap.  Andre Breton.

All those cool French guys recording their dreams.  Dali.  With a little slanted dot over the eye.

Yeah, Dali and Bunuel.  With a little wave over the inn.

And the donkey or whatever.  Gets his eye cut reel bad.  And this was near the beginning of cinema.

And Bunuel went on to Mexico.  And Aleister Crowley went to Mexico.  And Antonin Artaud.

And then Bunuel made French movies.  Maybe they were all French.  But not the Mexican ones.

And Eisenstein made a Mexican movie.  Reel good that.

And why is I talking funny and sayings nothing?

Because I been steeped like a tea bag in pure genius.

Ain’t my genius.  I’m just the reader.  The watcher.  The observer.

And then somebody gets Schrödinger‘s cat.  And they hurt it real bad.

Nobody ever asks what Schrody’s cat was named.  And it so happens Foot Foot.

Like the song by The Shaggs?  I think so, my pal.

So lemme tell you.

If I go on many more tangents like a line glancing off a sphere I will lose something important.

No no…I keep going.

Because my glasses fogged up with tears from crying.  When I had to get up to pee.

Later.  The retarded girl.  In the Krokus shirt.  But when she’s jogging back and forth.

That’s my family.

Yeah, for a minute I saw the whole totality of my lineage.

And it really made me cry.  Prematurely.

But mostly it’s when the rain falls.

It looks like the most heavenly scene.

I’m Mr. Rabbit.  I took a lot of risks.

A pink life.  That’s being vulnerable.  Listening to Tchaikovsky.

I skated down the hill on a banana like Jesus Christ.

One little pebble and my face is fucked for weeks.

One passing car and I’m Jello.  J E LL O.

But take a deep breath because you’ve shivered shirtless.

God damn.  You’ve got pink rabbit ears and knuckle tats.

You weren’t meant for this world.

And when the perfect storm comes—-

a lifetime of pain melts away.

For a second.

You’re not the freak.

For a second somebody wants you.

And you want them too.

And, really, it’s just fun.

That life has dealt you this miracle.

It makes your Xenia, Ohio bearable.  Just.

Life is transitory.  Crackling like a wet transistor.

Here today be here not tomorrow.

-PD