Showing posts with label Americana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Americana. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

New Trickster's Realm: "Twilight Language: Cold War Inklings?"

My new Trickster's Realm is up at Binnall of America: Twilight Language: Cold War Inklings?" about the numerous Russian connections popping up in the culture stream.
Politics and entertainment (I know, what's the difference) merged when Vice President Joe Biden appeared on the Jay Leno show. Biden joined Leno in a comedy sketch and later, they discussed the busted Russian spy ring. Leno showed a photo of one of the alleged spies, Anna Chapman, who's been described as "sultry" by every talking head and newspaper it seems. Leno showed a photo of alleged spy Chapman and asked: "Do we have any spies that hot?" to which Biden, a frustrated comedian, said: "Let me be clear. It was not my idea to send her back." 
One element I could have added but didn't think of: the new movie SALT, with Angelina Jolie. I haven't seen the movie but here is another example of a "sultry" sexy female spy and a Russian connection. Is Jolie's character a good spy or a bad (Russian) spy?

Things are not what they seem in these culture episodes; politicians as thwarted comedians, Russian spies as citizens, Russian lovers/actresses/entertainers, betrayals, non-Russians appearing as Russians . . . is the culture missing the Cold War?

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Joseph Capp on The Breaking Point

A fresh perspective into UFOs and the people who see them is UFO Breaking Point, at UFO Media Matters, Joseph Capp’s blog.

Capp discusses the psychological effect on UFO witnesses, including witnesses with multiple sightings. He says, of disclosure:
I really have had strong problems with the idea that wide or complete public knowledge of ET presence would not be a profound shock to many, many people, that it must be assumed that the masses of regular people will simply go about their daily lives as though nothing happened.

On the contrary: I believe a kind of ET Shock would take hold. I suspect ET Shock would marginalize rational thinking in many people who need the safety blanket of Business As Usual in our busy, spin saturated world.

(I often say that, after a small period of adjustment, we’d all go back to normal, but I’ve been rethinking this recently. And here I find Capp’s comments on this topic; another bit of synchronicity. I think many subcultures and already marginalized groups wouldn’t be in shock -- they’ve been expecting it. But the infrastructures and mainstream, which after all are the ones that count as far as control goes, would be turned upside down. That’s why full disclosure won’t happen, and exopolitics, while well meaning, is a bit pointless. On the other hand, it’s presumptive of us to assume anything when it comes to this subject. But we can speculate, which is what we’re all trying to do; just deal with what we know so far and have experienced.)

Capp writes of his own UFO sighting, and the affect it’s had on him -- all these years later. As with my own “obsession” and so many others, those of us who’ve had sightings oftentimes spend years searching for clues and answers -- even knowing no one size fits all answer will ever come -- we still take part in the process of discovery. Why?

And this last paragraph was another bit of Synchronicty between my recent musings on the phenomena and Capp’s closing paragraph:
So in our own community we need to understand that UFO people are not “off” because they actually believe in UFOs; some of them have become “Off” by dealing personally with this profound, and often psychologically shattering experience as best as they knew how.

I’ve been thinking a lot the past few weeks about our isolation from each other, even within the field of UFOlogy and Fortean studies. Not only is our culture decompartmentalized, the subcultures of UFOlogy, etc. are as well. The often hostile divisions between nuts and bolts and more holistic theories, between paranormal Bigfoot and flesh and blood Bigfoot, and so on, further divide, and by doing so, reinforce the loneliness, uncertainties, and confusion within individuals. Throw in the skeptics -- who, like it or not are a part of this since they insist on being vocal on the fringes of the fringe -- and the experience is far from cohesive or supportive.

Our technological culture doesn’t allow for these kinds of experiences,including religious ones. We tolerate some mainstream religions and misuse the more fundamental varieties to strengthen the fascism and theocracy leanings of government,(the control aspect) but there is not a culture of acceptability when it comes to the spiritual, supernatural, paranormal esoteric world that has lived alongside us for millennia.

It’s not at all surprising UFO and other phenomena are kept at arm’s length by society. Unless the topic is to be dismantled (debunkers, pathological skeptics,) or exploited (entertainment, television programs on the topic) it’s still held out as highly questionable. You can voice your beliefs on Christianity at work, and come right out and say that “Halloween is a holy day and so shouldn’t be celebrated” and you’ll be treated with respect, no matter how grudgingly. Sure enough, no Halloween party will happen, and you’ll even have a few coworkers chide you if you use the word Halloween. (I know, I experience this every year.) Talk about your church and you’re tolerated, if not downright accepted as being “normal.” For the most part, say you're a religious person of an accepted religion, and you're "normal." The activist atheist excepted, those will be tolerated in society. Venture out just a bit though, and you're suspect; even Mormonism is off the edge. The message is: don't stray too far from the relgious paradigm. Mention UFOs or Bigfoot, and people literally snort in your face. This isn’t news to anyone of course.

The point is, in our society we’ve moved far away from the acknowledgment of “the other” to the point of outright denial it exists. And within the UFO arena, this same attitude exists among its own. It isn’t any wonder, as Joseph Capp points out, that those who experience these things often go through psychological trauma, and may appear to be lost, off, confused, shaken, or gullible. And at a certain point, those labels become just that; labels. If we aren’t willing to give some kind of support -- which doesn’t mean agreement or total acceptance -- I really think we should shut up. Those that come on heavy and thuggish aren’t contributing to the field in any way, despite whatever praise they receive. There’s no pride in coming off as a bully, or being snide. Rejecting various aspects of the phenomena as not worth the time for its perceived silly factor is not a sign of intellectual superiority; it’s a sign of intentional ignorance.

The obsessive path many a UFO experiencer or writer takes sometimes ends badly; even death. Suicides, mysterious deaths, mental illness, paranoia; UFO history has its share of people who've gone this way. Many of us accept this as a risk we take, and go on. It's a fact many were victims of government mind games; psy ops, mind control, intentional games played with the UFO witness or researcher to ensure his or her isolation, not only from society, but from their own sub-culture of UFOlogists. Their own families. And we're partly repsonbile, for allowing these divisions to exist, for allowing the petty grudge matches to go on, and all the rest of the ugly side of UFOlogy to continue.

Joseph Capp suggests there may be a Part II to the article; I hope so!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Ideas

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.—Aristotle

I lifted this quote from Lisa Shiel's Bigfoot Quest blog. I like this quote, and think it's important in any area,includng the UFO and esoteric realm. How else are we to get anywhere if we don't allow ourselves to consider other ideas, perspectives?

Along these lines (well, to me, after all I'm a Pisces so I think a bit off kilter) is what Tim Binnall said in his interview on the Blue Rose Report podcast recently. He said, of UFO studies and theories and choosing a "side" to be on, that:
"There aren't any sides, it's a circle." I probably have that wrong, but that's the gist.

I can delve into Reptilians and Nazi gnomes living inside the earth without literally "believing" in such things. Or explore the Contactee movement without believing that Adamski, Fry, etc. really rode in a spaceship to Venus, or over the United States. That's not to say they were lying - and here's where this idea of entertaining ideas comes in. It's not always such an easy dichotomy when it comes to this arena: either or, black white, literal or not, etc.

So many are still stuck on nuts and bolts vs. the mystical, the ETH vs. anything else. Roswell as the great answer to the puzzle.

Speaking of Roswell (I know,I'm sorry) there are those who expect the answer as a salvation to the UFO enigma, and those who believe that, since Roswell is "dead" all of UFOlogy are dead. More of that either or stuff.

Binnall, in his interview, also stressed the importance of getting the views of international UFO researchers. Lesley (Debris Field, Beyond the Dial, Grey Matters) has done a lot towards gathering international research resources for our benefit. U.S. research and studies in this context needs the perspective of not only international researchers but multi cultural and minority researchers from within the states as well.

At the risk of sounding annoyingly multicultural p.c., I'll say it anyway: the views about UFOs and the paranormal our society has as a whole are held and supported (controlled) by the white dominant paradigm. (As is everything.) When it comes to the paranormal, to UFOs, to the weird in general, our infrastructure does its job: denies, and decompartmentalizes.

Most of this is a given in any culture, and due to the Trickster at work. Divide, invert, juxtapose, hide. And expecting it all to change suddenly because we've now included other views is like the naive expectations of the exopolitics people.

But it can't hurt. Anyway, what's the goal here? To change "them," or to change us?

Vivacious exchange of information and ideas doesn't mean, or guarantee, agreement. That's not the point. It might turn out I think a particular culture's mindset regarding UFOs is ridiculous, or pig headed, or weird. So what?

As the man said, we can entertain these ideas without accepting them. At least we've been exposed to new views.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Alien Ride Roller Coaster




I like this story: Alien Dreamer, by Daniel Joshua Rubin for The Motley Fool. Bryan Temmer, after a lot of rejection, will see his dream realized in Roswell, New Mexico for an Alien Abduction Roller Coaster. A dream, an obsession, a hope, Americana, aliens, -- it makes a goofy sense.


(image source:ROBERT COKER:ROLLER COASTER, 2003)