The Fredösphere

Did you catch Lileks yesterday?  He lileksized a trailer for The Fountainhead!  I couldn't believe it.  What could be a more perfect confluence?  Maybe if a zeppelin named after an antipope (and piloted by an absinthe-swilling John Tavener, with the Kings Singers aboard, entertaining a sci-fi convention) flew over my house.  Which is unlikely.  He's right about the skyscraper turning into a book, which you see at the beginning of the movie itself:  it's a cheesy gesture, not appropriate for a story that takes itself seriously.  And I get the feeling (I'm going way out on a limb here) that Ayn Rand took herself seriously.

Today, Lileks explains very neatly why Star Wars can't be dismissed.  (Although it can be criticised; O yes, it can be criticized.) Here's how I would describe that feeling we got when the movie first came out: somewhere, somebody (the Man) had put forth a decree that henceforth, movies like Star Wars just couldn't be made anymore.  They were forbidden!  "Movies like Star Wars" means having the optimism that Lileks mentioned, plus a simple devotion to story telling, not preaching some kind of... something.  When Star Wars came out, it was like a lid was blown off.  The oppressive paradigm got its heinie shifted, big time.  It was, what? -- still only 1976?  Yet that movie seemed to announce: Fear Not! The 70s Are Ending!

That quality of optimism and pure story-telling is present in most of the retro-futurism revival, and that's why I like it.  Yes, Star Trek was optimistic too, so my dislike of it is inconsistent, but that show was just embarrassing, and anyway, its optimism was somehow godless and off-putting.

Meanwhile, in another dimension....

The A Cappella News has introduced me to The Real Group.  What are they, exactly?  Laid back Swedish vocal jazz, I guess.  Follow the link and listen to the sound files for the only true answer to the question.  Not exactly my thing, but their precision is astounding and, in small doses, mesmerizing.