Hollywood’s Anti-War Inactivism

What’s happened to Hollywood? Or rather, what’s happened to the society I live in today? Two days from the writing of this article is the 5 year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Whether due to that or some other reason, there has been a surge of anti-war “activism” in Hollywood in the form of movies. And everyone from Susan Sarandon to Reese Witherspoon is jumping on the band wagon. Read more

How Tour Breaks Preserve Sanity, Health and Bands

From bands who are signed to major record labels, to independents slogging it out, musicians are frequently on long tours; six months, a year, eighteen months, sometimes even more, of constant globe-trotting while the executives lean back in their big stuffy chairs at home and enjoy the green smell of cash, cash, cash. Read more

Pump Out Tunes Faster: 6 Easy Ways to Do It

Over the past year I’ve practiced and refined the technique behind my tuneback concept. If you don’t know what a tuneback is, it’s a song that is written, recorded and published online - all in under an hour. Read more

The Creative Artist as Global Activist — Applauding Trent Reznor’s Example

In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a creative activist. When it comes to being a Creative Artist, I think it’s vital to be informed about the world, and to have a well-developed sense of social, political and cultural justice that has a global perspective and not just a national one loyal only to one’s country, for as Creative Artists we serve our country best by embracing the world and serving it through the creation, development and publication of our works, and while these benefit our national economies for the long-term in ways we will be looking at in later articles, they serve humanity first.

As a Creative Artist I embrace without reservation the ideas of Lennon’s Imagine and support nationalism only to the degree that my country, of which I am justifiably proud (most of the time), acts in a socially global sense that has the interests of humanity and nothing else at heart. John Lennon’s website is beautiful, and I wholeheartedly recommend a visit.

Once informed, we utilize our ability to communicate to:

1. Increase awareness and attention about issues that affect humanity - this is non-partisan, apolitical, pro-survival and has the aspect of a care-taking custodial role.
2. Protect communication lines and channels that carry information and the quality of content on those channels.
3. Place constructive ideas into society.
4. Use this information to craft works of art & entertainment that while entertaining, also inform lives and make them worth living.

Why is this important to the definition and role of a Creative Artist?

Because, it is the people who lift us up on their shoulders when they support the publication of our creative works as we develop them, and help us attain positions of influence, that well-managed and from a traditional perspective, help us to balance the books of success when it is attained.

It is not a company or a corporation that Creative Artists owe our allegiance and loyalty to, rather it is the people of the world who support our works that we represent, and whose trust we must not abuse.

So, when I find out from Danny Schecter’s Media Channel that Trent Reznor is involved in tackling the media, I get excited!

Video: The Warning
ArtofMentalWarfare.com presents The Warning, a politically powerful new music video featuring Grammy Award-winning artist Trent Reznor. The Warning takes on the covert interests behind the war and our media saturated society. From war crimes to the destruction of the environment and a celebrity-obsessed culture, The Warning is a clarion call to action for an apathetic nation.

Opening Statement: Let The Media War Begin
The mainstream media is an elaborate and sophisticated propaganda apparatus that is designed and utilized to deceive, manipulate, dumb down, distract and marginalize the American public.

No, not only the American public. But also the rest of the world, who buy into and are subjected to the American mythology through works of culture that America exports all over the world.

Code Point 6 of the Code of a Creative Artist covers these aspects of being a Creative Artist. But many other points of the code are as relevant. This is not some arbitrary code created out of thin air, or vague imaginings, it defines and describes exactly how Creative Artists operate in the world, and by doing so, serve the world. It is our job to do so by imagining.

So I applaud, what Trent Reznor is doing as a Creative Artist. David Vincent? I’m not so sure about his grasp on the reality of blogging, probably he has not read the Free Articulator yet (chuckle), but I do agree with what he is saying and promoting with regard to big media and wish him every success.

Why Battlestar’s Naturalistic Sci-Fi is the Easy Way Out

A few months back, Joel sent me an “Interesting essay on this page about writing sci-fi.”

We’re both fans of “Battlestar Galactica” and this critique doesn’t change that one iota.

This article is developed from our conversation in Skype. I agree with Joel that it is an interesting essay. However, I do not agree with Ron Moore’s take on technology. Read more

30 Second Review: Elizabeth, The Golden Age

I’d read somewhere it’s taken Shekhar Kapur, the director of the first Elizabeth movie, all these years (nearly a decade) to convince Cate Blanchett to reprise the titular role that made stars of them both. A word of advice for Blanchett - You should have said “No.”

I haven’t seen the first film, but I found this one overwhelmingly long and disjointed. At just under two hours the movie plodded for as long as all the years it covered. The film awkwardly spends little of its time on the Holy War England faces and the epic Spanish loss to the British in favor of frivolous court scenes, romantic intrigue and CGI sea battles. Also incessant and unnecessary is the director’s determination to rewrite a powerful monarch into little more than an angst-ridden teenager with astounding historical inaccuracies.

Even though Blanchett keeps the film aloft with her immense acting power, presence and grace, she is no match for the overwhelming detail of her costumes. A small detail compared to the movie’s other shortcomings, but they are simply tiresome to look at after the five years it takes the film to end.

Radiohead - What will the fans (market) do?

I think this article: Radiohead bets on fast release, open pricing is another indicator of the music industry creaking at the seams. However, the line “It’s up to you” is a challenge to the public to embrace the independent artist’s new business model. It’s telling the audience to be honest about downloading and those who would contemplate simply taking it for free simply because they can, should consider well what they may be doing to the future of music and the industry of art & entertainment.

The question we should ask is: Are the public–the fans–as dishonest and corrupt as the industry itself, or are they truly loyal (and honest) fans who want to support the independence of artists whose talent and products they enjoy?

I think Radiohead are asking that question with “It’s up to you” which is really, another way of asking “Given the opportunity to steal, to take without fair payment, are you a thief?” it’s too bad they’re not publshing the figures as they occur, for the results would be very interesting. What Radiohead is doing is similar to Stephen King’s e-Book download experiment.

The Rise of the Independent Creative Artist - Prince, Radiohead Lead Way with Bold Marketing Moves

When the Free Articulator launched its first articles on the 4th of July 2007 it did so with the Declaration of Creative Independence, and the Code of a Creative Artist, a set of principles which state very clearly how Creative Artists will deal with the business and industry of artistic creative endeavor, and interact with society and civilization.

In September the Free Articulator published my article the Traditional Music Industry Shows Increasing Signs of Collapse. It was pirated within a day of publication and came to the attention of MySpace.

Earlier this year (July, 2007) Prince caught everybody’s attention with the licensing of two million copies of his new album Planet Earth to the UK’s Mail On Sunday. It was touted as a “give away” by the international media, though nothing could be further from the truth; Prince licensed the album to the Mail On Sunday; that’s smart marketing business, demonstrating an understanding and appreciation of what intellectual property rights are all about and how to use them effectively.

This licensing deal with the Mail On Sunday permitted the legal give-away of two million albums and raised the ire of the Music Retailers Association in the UK, who warned musicians everywhere “not to do the same or else…!” Precisely the sort of attitude and response that would encourage musicians everywhere to follow Prince’s example, and by the way, I’d love to interview Prince for our Intellectual Property Series, as I’ve been following what happened to his career since he lost the use of his name to his former-label and I’m thrilled to see his comeback garnering so much attention, as it simultaneously educates and redefines the business model of creative individuals with the industry, society and the public.

Now Radiohead has adopted the idea of the market setting the price for downloaded material and generated millions of dollars worth of free international advertising that purportedly sends a shockwave through the busines, and reflects the insight offered in my article on the inreasing signs of collapse of the music industry. The old model in the recording industry (detailed briefly here) doesn’t work any more, it is a rip-off of artists who have been kept ignorant of the industry’s workings, and disenfranchised of their rights through chicanery and ignorance that is becoming well-known worldwide.

However, as AJC points out in his blog Science of the Invisible, “It ain’t gonna work.” At best, he’s right: Radiohead’s move is free international promotion and that will work, is working, but has little ongoing traction or utility, as one needs to have a large audience, and be a brand that people and the media are aware of.

AJC is also right about what the music industry should do, but, changing a bad philosophical, moral code and business model to something morally sound and ethical requires a radical change in thinking and practise that takes a long, long time. The time to change required extends when you’re talking about an entire industry that is used to having open season exploitation of creative ignorance. Can such a leopard change its blotches?

The industry is a servant of the artist and their public, not the master. That’s the new model, the model of the independent Creative Artists who license their work to others for mutual benefit, sharing the wealth and potential of a work or collection on reaonable and fair terms without giving up ownership or paying for the rip-off of their own property. End the corruption, end the decay. Let’s have an industry we can trust.

Celebrity Culture - BS Observations - Celebrity Cash-and-Burn

It’s ironic to me that the Free Articulator’s first front page, launched in 2006 made mention of Britney Spears in the most derisive tones, portending her crash long before the MSM made mention of it with regard to her folding marriage and desperate, but failed attempts to cling to the shreds of her career.

Since then, I’ve been fond of making fun of Britney Spears by saying “The initials say it all.” Meaning that they comment on the music, the woman, her character, and her career. The news that she has lost custody of her children is now exploding into the mainstream media (MSM) and dominating headlines and soundbytes internationally. It gives me pause.

The former Disney Mouseketeer has lost the plot completely. Whatever talent she has, or retains, is obscured, and all the money showbiz has offered, ($50,000,000 a year) for a twenty-something would seem insufficient to help her, though she does a credible (if soul-destroying) job of remaining in the media spotlight; a celebrity’s major job description and most precious social capital these days.

It seems to me that the attention we pay her as she shatters her career, ruins her life and that of those around her is more of a commentary on who we are as a society and civilization, than who Britney is as a falling star of pop culture.

I think the MSM today is feeding and fueling her plunge into obscurity as visibly as possible and that we are helping her along. I find that rather shameful. If we’re to believe the media attitude on this it comes across as “Nobody seems to care,” except the media who rush to publish so they can exploit this event to make money from corporations who’ll purchase more adspace this week to capitalize upon the circumstance of celebrity cash-and-burn (sic). “The meida maketh and the media burneth.” All we are supposed to do is stir the ash; fertile ground for the next media sensation to rise as phoenix and inflame our desire to consume.

As has been mentioned earlier, the Free Articulator will be taking a look at the cult of celebrity in a consumer soceity at a later date.

In the meantime consider what it means as society loses the values it once placed in glamorous graceful and cultured celebrities (holding to the illusion we considered reality at the time), and ponder for a few moments, if you will, who may gain what by destroying the value and inspiration celebrity once gave us.

Celebrity is a commodity traded by the value others place in the attention we freely give.

On who, or what, do you spend your attention today?

There is where the dollars flow.

Warning you may be offended if you click the link…

It’s a serious warning, you may be exposed to words and language that may offend your sensibilities, if you still have any. And if you do have some, please let us know how you have managed to preserve them in the face of such offensive journalism that passes for respectability. This is pretty clever stuff, and it illustrates a point found elsewhere. I’m truly encouraged to see this sort of thing going on.

To enjoy being offended click through to this YouTube video.