The issue of accountability

(Some reworking of yesterday’s post here – apologies for the repetition)

I’m struggling with it. Accountability and responsibility both. Who is to blame for all of this? This is not to simply point fingers and shift the blame elsewhere – rather that we will be unable to suggest a progressive solution unless we can identify the problem.

I’m often assumed to be a good little leftie. And, while I’ll admit to reading the Guardian and voting red every time, those closer to me are sometimes shocked by what are referred to as ‘right-wing’ leanings… I don’t know. I think the left/right dichotomy is a red herring. That our opinions and beliefs are more complex than ‘x’or ‘y’.

I think that a society is responsible for nurturing it’s young. For raising children within a moral framework – a scaffold of discipline and rules that is gradually removed to leave an ethical structure ready to stand by itself. I think that we have failed to do so. We, as a people have dropped the ball and permitted a degradation of youth to go unchecked. At least my own experiences would indicate such. We are responsible for raising these kids. So maybe it’s our fault?

Our current government, acting under clearly ideological motivations, have hardly helped matters. I think that there are obvious consequences to profound and swinging cuts to community funding. That if you make Higher Education a choice only for the wealthy elite. You go to US private providers and proclaim openly that public healthcare in the UK is up for sale. You allow the financial sector to go unregulated and unpunished for a catastrophe mostly keenly felt by those outside it. You close libraries and community centres, public pools and gyms. You take away the EMA struggling families. You clearly evidence that only the wealthy are protected and served by the state. You do all of these things in a society that is the most stratified in the developed world and this is what happens. They are responsible for pushing a malicious and vindictive agenda of social engineering too far and too fast. For setting light to a very dry and very ready tinderbox. So maybe it’s the Tories?

But your environment does not excuse your actions. You are responsible for what you do. The closure of your local pool does not justify your arson nor your manslaughter. I understand that if you and your forefathers are utterly disenfranchised then you may feel compelled to take payment from society where you can. But that does not make it right. So it’s their fault and theirs alone? Because goodness is an objective truth that exists apart from your upbringing – to act in a malicious manner is not excusable.

… But I don’t know… I’m really struggling… A friend of mine has commented that she was afraid of consequence as a child. Of parents and the great bearded sky wizard who threatened damnation, and indeed interviews with looters have revealed that it it’s the certainty that will be no retribution that has spurred them on… but I don’t know… It wasn’t *only* the fear of consequence that limited my actions as a child. And it’s not only the fear of consequence that stays my hand today. I did and do possess some kind of basic morality.

Those who have carried out obscene crimes in the last few days are accountable and should be held accountable. As individuals… But… it’s up to all of us, state and society, to try and create an environment that nurtures a different kind of child.

Male teachers in primary schools for kids raised without fathers. Activity centres offering alternatives to spending one’s time lustfully looking at a culture of excess that you are ostracized from. Paradigms for parenting that allow both profound love and stern discipline without seeming contradictory. Mixed housing schemes to banish the ghetto. Deeper and more complex (and more expensive) community policing methods than the criminalizing stop-and-search… So many ideas. But the real difficulty is that these pursue long-term goals. We don’t conceptualize the long-term very well. We expect results immediately – certainly within the span of one government. Cameron will flood the cities with police today but will he re-open schemes to put a local Bobby into every school and estate? Pump funding into teenage mentoring schemes? Complex plans that won’t benefit his government or even the next. Plans are about human relationships building over decades rather than immediate headlines and target figures.

This should not happen again – that responsibility is shared by us all. It is perhaps distasteful to admit that many of those who looted in the last few days are lost to us. There are no means of saving them. That does not mean that their progeny are also write-off’s; continued neglect evidently doesn’t work. We need to take better care of our society’s children.

What do you think?

Av or not to AV?

Well… AV clearly.

It’s not good enough. It doesn’t offer a big enough change from the current clearly unfair and archaic system. But that’s not a reason to vote ‘no’ to it.

There’s the possibility of creating a precedent that it can’t be changed again and frankly, with the absence of true Proportional Representation as a choice, it will have to do.

I’ll head to the polls shortly and I’m very disappointed.

It does look like the ‘no’ vote will win. Which I find very disappointing. Cameron says we should vote ‘no’ because we’re too stupid to understand the concept of making a list in order of preference. Others say we should vote ‘no’ to punish Nick Clegg; not realising that it’s a vote for Cameron and that, of course, this is a referendum not an election. The ‘yes’ campaign is based around more complex (not that complex really) ideas like democracy, allowing smaller parties a seat at the table, and a move away from tactical voting. Which, it seems, are too difficult for most voters to consider.

Micro-lending at Kiva.org

www.kiva.org

So, I’ve signed up to this micro-lending website. Basically folk in countries that aren’t doing quite so well as we & who can’t arrange local financing for relatively small amounts of money (e.g. $1k) are identified by local Kiva agents and are set up on this website. Then people like you and me can loan fairly small amounts of money (e.g. 20 quid). Which, one-by-one isn’t a big deal but altogether and we’ve helped them start a shop or buy power tools so they can be a tradesman or whatever.

Now, I like this idea enough that I’ve given it money. So let that be said before I criticise. And I think you should give it money too. I believe in the web as being an enabling tool – one that can create direct networks of support and transaction (EBay, Gumtree, etc.) and I think a move toward this being a global network that actually helps people can only be a good thing.

But… it’s boring. And boring doesn’t sell.

Ultimately I’ve just given a few quid to a website in a once-off deal that I won’t go back to. I do, honestly as I’m easily drawn into the narratives of marketing, feel better about myself by knowing that my money has gone to specific person (there’s a photo and a name and I will, I imagine, soon be hearing of her success) that to a faceless upload button. But, in reality, that faceless upload button does provide money to an NGO that I trust (let’s say Amnesty) that will make certain that my money has an impact.

But… it’s boring. I think it should include interest and I think my account should gain that interest. I have to admit (and this is perhaps me …looking at it from a games perspective I guess) – at the moment it is really just a once-off donation . I’ve basically given money to a website and, while it has more human interest than most charity donations, I don’t really feel compelled to log back in a see how my money is doing. Were I able to gain even a very small interest (even if I couldn’t personally withdraw that interest – i.e. it needed to stay in the Kiva ‘pool’), I’d give a lot time and focus and really work out which local agents were more active and skilled, etc. Basically if there was a more active element to my involvement – I’d be inclined to put more time and money into it.

Or… I dunno… even a point-scoring system of some kind.

Ideas?

Flights like flocks

Like synchronised swimmers. One, two, and the flood starts.

An hour before the flight and the flood begins. Even in priority boarding. “Gah they’re flocking” I think, as they jump up to join a queue that’s only forming because it is. Some sit in unison as well. They stand as one and sit as one on the ground, claiming their place.

And I can feel the tension too. I have to resist the urge to join them like a zombie’s girlfriend finally giving in and offering up my precious brain (or in my case, seat) to stand swaying with my zombie brethern, tired and listless but free from choice.

Happy finally.

Posted by Wordmobi

Discovering comic characters like hidden roots

I was chatting with a friend recently about Watchmen (both book and movie). Specifically about the origin of the characters. A third, less comic-geeky but no less enthused party, asked us what we meant by the origins if not the back-stories contained in the text itself.

The characters in Watchmen as ‘ur-heroes’ of sorts; ‘proto-heroes’ perhaps. Usually when a writer tries to reference superhero history as a whole, and perhaps make a statement about the entirety of the superhero-comic genre,  they draw upon predictable, and Alan Moore is no no less guilty of this, analogs of Superman, Batman and Wonderwoman (with maybe Doc. Savage and the Spirit thrown in for good measure). The writer will create a new version of these characters, thinly disguised, and make statements about their history or meaning that could not be made directly. For example, Warren Ellis might imagine them as lovers.

What is uncommon in Watchmen is that a Superman is not included at all; which is an virtually unknown in any comics setting. Wonderwoman is referenced only in that the pornographic comics that feature the ’60′s Silk Spectre bare (see what I did, good pun, eh? ) relation to early issues of Wonderwoman (phalluses and all). Nite Owl is not a Batman analog, as might appear most obvious. He is the second Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, who arguably was himself a parody of sorts; a more realistic take on what a millionaire would be like if he tried to become a caped crusader. Moore was deliberately drawing on the lesser known superheroe comics of the ’60′s and ’70′s, as befitted his setting.

But we knew this and agreed on it. Rorsach had us talking though. He referenced Mr.A, and old Ditko character I was unfamiliar with. I thought more of the Question, a character I knew from mid-90′s DC and also from Frank Miller’s DK2. What prompted me to look Mr.A up was my friend mentioning Ayn Rand and Mr.A’s worldview of absolute goodness and absolute evil; no shades of moral grey. I remember the Question being criticised for his reliance on Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged to guide his every motive in DK2.

Rorshach

So, I googled Mr.A and Ditko and all things and discovered that Ditko had created both Mr.A and the Question. (Ditko is one of the secret masters of the comic world; he is little known to those outside of avid readers but his creations underly many very popular well-known characteres and settings). Indeed there is even the assumption that he intended the two to go together, Question & Mr.A. That, after his co-creation of the icon Spiderman, he went on to work on the otherwordly Dr.Strange. That his work slowly crept further and further toward a brutal right-wing politic and that, after studying Ayn Rand, he created Mr.A and later the Question to espouse his new, and I would say simplistic (though I’m sure Rorshach would say essential), worldview. As Rorschach himself explains: ”there is good and there is evil, and evil must be punished. Even in the face of Armageddon I shall not compromise in this.” Moronic I’m sure most would agree but, I must admit, quite beguiling in its certainty.

I’m reminded of the Bowie track, ‘Law (Earthlings on Fire)‘, and the line, “I don’t want knowledge. I want certainty”.

Rooting deeper still into the web I happened upon other pop culture references to Mr.A. Hoosier released a song called ‘Goodbye Mr.A’ (video below) and still deeper, bringing the epistemological search in a full loop, Alan Moore recorded, with the The Emperors of Ice Cream, a track called, obviously enough, ‘Mr.A’.

… I love comics. I love the layers and layers of intertwining creators and characters.

… A tangential point (though I’m unsure if I really had a point above) perhaps is Dr.Manhattan. Where does this character come from? Intuitively I recognise the idea of the ‘absolute’ superhuman; so advanced as to be unknowable. This has been touched off time and again in various cosmic stories from both DC and Marvel. But… It’s Watchmen. Moore’s drawing on something specific. I’ve heard Captain Atom mentioned… But I’m not sure I buy it… not entirely anyway though I realise the obvious similarity in their back stories. Perhaps, as Grant Morrison pointed out with the Captain Adam character in Final Crisis, Moore intended Dr.Manhattan as something of an ending to the idea of the superhero. The Omega to Superman’s Alpha. Any ideas?

“There’s a hole in your logic
You who know all the answers
You claim science aint magic
And expect me to buy it“

Anti-Zombie training: to entirely desensitize oneself

A very very brief post once again (at home furiously working on coursework).

One of my concerns, and I’m sure this is shared, regarding the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse (‘ZA-Day’) is that, when it comes, I won’t be prepared.

All the reading, reflecting, planning the storing of canned goods won’t actually give me practice and experience.

If like me, you share this concern, you’ll be pleased to see I’ve collated a short list of links where you can gain some experience in Fighting Against Fetid Foes (FAFF) combat.

http://www.freewebarcade.com/zombie-games.php

http://www.kongregate.com/games/SeanCooper/boxhead-2play-rooms

http://www.zombiegames.net/games/The-Last-Stand-2.html

http://www.zombiehaven.com/games/zombie-horde-3.php

If you have any more suggestions, please comment. What we’re looking for are experiences where you can a) train your reflexes b) grow experienced with small arms and c) entirely desensitive you until you are cold murder machine.

Remember these aren’t just games, they could save you and your loved ones.

Anti-Zombie armour

I’ve recently had my strap-line “all about the zombie apocalypse” called into question by Red who has also sent me toward the witty White Rabbits zombie-themed post here. So with my rep on the line I continue my ongoing series of ‘How to survive a Zombie Apocalypse’.  I’d like to consider armour.

I’m going to place these into two broad categories; ‘professional’ and ‘ghetto’. Professional is what you see happening in the movies where they succeed in finding a police station or army base somewhere that’s been left unguarded, unlooted and (often) unlocked. It’s the ideal… Ghetto is what you and I will end up; essentially how to armour yourself from the local Poundland.

So:

Professional grade anti-zombie armour. As I mentioned in previous posts I think the the most effective weapon against our worm-ridden foe is teamwork.  I suggested two waves of humans; one with a baseball bat or similar moving slowly forward and knocking over with a second wave advancing with killing weapons (I suggested a hammer and chisel).

As suggested by the excellent Zombie narrative survival guide, The Walking Dead, nothing, but nothing (especially not rotting teeth) beats riot armour.

It’s designed to be worn over a fairly long period of time (look at those guys at the G20 protests; beating away all day and not a bother on them!). It’s virtually impregneable and it comes with those fantastic shields. My ideal tactic to clear an area is to form a wall as pictured above, knock ‘em down with shields and batons, walk over their bitey molars confident in your armoured shins and let the second wave of chisel-bearers do their thing. Perfect.

Now, onto the more realistic alternative….

Ghetto armour. We’ve got the same problems here; biters. You knock a zombie down and what does he do? Bite your ankles. You walk through long grass, scanning the horizon and what happens? A zombie bites your ankles. You grab one by the shoulder and raise your arm to bring your trusty fireaxe down on his sodden head and what happens? Biting, that’s what. One bite and your friends will turn on you quicker than an avocado left too long in the sun.

One bite and it’s all over but how powerful is the human jaw really? How sharp? I know that, in Hollywood’s fantastical portrayals, a quick-acting zombie can gnarl its way through leather and denim… But I know that I couldn’t. I realise that, if I cared not a whit for the state of my jaw and teeth afterward, that there’s enough power in my bite to bruise flesh and possibly break bone but I don’t think I’d actually be able to pierce through strong materials and savour the tasty morsels within.

My solution? Simple. A good pair of hiking boots.

A good pair of gloves…

… a light but tough fabric jacket… and a shitload of gaffa tape wrapped all over. You ever try to bite that stuff? Belive me, Zack ain’t getting through it.

It even works if you  need to leave wounded behind for later retrieval. It won’t be pleasant but wrap them up and they’re zack-proof. Admitedly you’ll end up looking like this:

… but it’s a small price to pay for survival. A very small price actually; only a quid or two.

… What I need to think about next are a) a defensible location and b) supplies.

Should comic stores wait for action from Diamond?

A previous post of mine pissed off a new commenter. The post was this one: http://waxydan.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/closing-comic-book-stores-we-need-to-try-something-new/#comments and you can read his comment there. And, if you like comics, you really should read his comment and get in on the discussion.

Comics mean a lot to me. So I thought I’d reply both in the comments and in a whole new post. Basically I said that the industry is dying and stores that are unfriendly to new readers (especially females) have to a) become more accessible and b) take advantage of the current trend for comicbook movies.

Ron Ferraro, who I notice runs a store himself, got pissed at this and pointed out (with no small amount of accuracy) that the blame should really be laid at the feet of the publishers and the assholes at Diamond Distribution. He’s quite right. BUT… in response…

I’m not a store owner but I’ve had friends for over 20 years now who are so, while I can’t claim to be intimately familiar with the industry, I’m far from “completely unfamiliar”.

First off, while you might be correct that “the comic stores that have closed are probably the smarter ones”, but I’m going to discount that. Not that I have evidence to the contrary or anything like that; I’d just rather not accept the medium dying. So you might well be right in that statement, but I don’t accept it. Not by evidence or a force of argument; I’m just not happy with there being no more comic book stores.

Secondly; I’m well aware of the stranglehold that Diamond has on the industry; it hits stores badly, it also affects independent creators and, ultimately, every reader as its practices stifle creativity and that’s not good for anyone. And, indeed, I should get around to posting how I feel about Diamond and how I feel about the inaccessible stories published my the big publishers.

*But*… I do not think that a retailer has the power right now to immediately affect the practices of Diamond. You suggest three things that publishers and distributors could do differently. All of which I agree with, but none of which a comic store owner can do tomorrow morning.

What they can do is sell copies of Watchmen. Which I notice the chain bookstore, Waterstones, is selling out of. A whole stand full of it and it’s selling out. But I also notice that my local comic store doesn’t appear to stock it (well, it does if you ask for it, but passing trade aren’t going to do that). The train station at the end of the same road has people reading every morning but they didn’t buy it in that store. Nor did they buy their Dark Knight DVD’s or Sin City trade paperbacks there.

They can also push the Minx line and some manga series harder and try to get in new *female* readers. Something that, again, I notice some larger chain bookstores are doing. And they’re doing it with exactly the same rotating comic holder that I see in the specialist store. No bigger or smaller stock. Just better promotion. Every time I go into a chain bookstore with a comic book section; I see women browsing the shelves buying the same books that are for sale in my local comic store. I have *never* seen a female reader in the store. I know three in my area; they all shop on Amazon, eBay or in Waterstones and they all cite the same reason; they feel like unwelcome intruders in specialist stores. Two of them went to look for a copy of Persepolis a week after the movie was released; it wasn’t in stock. The Minx stand is literally gathering dust and its going to cost that store hundreds when they have to bin all those trades.

There are two comic book reading clubs in my area. I know of a few others across London. I don’t know of any stores are associated with them. While I understand that apathy sets in after a decade or more of struggling to stay open I also think that the store owners themselves appearing intersted in the medium, in what regulars are reading, and *especially* what new readers might be interested in seems like a good idea.

What about buying *direct* from independents? It worked in the ’60′s and publishing’s only gotten cheaper since then.

Or they can put little “staff recommends” stickers on their shelves. They can get some synergy going with the local arthouse cinema. They can get mentioned in the local paper when a major movie is released. They can open a Facebook group and get discussions going. They can sell some of the back stock on an eBay store. They can try a podcast; I listen to Around Comics every single week.

Or they can do none of these things and go out of business. Or they can wait for the big publishers and the distributor to radically change their practices… and likely go out of business while they wait.

It’s worth a shot surely?

Bloody Tories

I really like my area and, while laziness and sometimes even genuine business procludes me being as active as I’d like, I try to involve myself as much as possible in what’s going on. Be that local exhibitions, shopping locally, or submitting comments to local council plans.

This is why I say ‘bloody tories’.

There’s a local group (more active really on Facebook than elsewhere) where people trade ideas for where to eat, highlight local concerns and so on. It’s apolitical and genuine in its goals. Or so I thought. The creator of the group has revealed himself with much mock comedy to be running for local office as a Conservative and has used the group to publicise this goal.

Which is why I say “bloody tories”… Because it always seems to come back to self-promotion. While I can hardly claim that the Labour or Lib Dem supporters are entirely selfless in their politics; it does still seem to be a trait particularly apparent in Conservatives that whatever political movement or local organisation they may be involved in, at some point, their involvement will be used for personal gain. A tendency toward partisan politics and self-promotion too often emerges.

I’m sure this isn’t what he deliberately intends but it’s disappointing.

Stoopid tory

Closing Comic Book Stores; we need to try something new

They’re closing at a terrific rate.  In Notting Hill, Soho and Tottenham. I’m hoping Avalon in Clapham hold out; it’s good store.

I do wonder though, in this age of comic book movies and the medium’s re-entry into mainstream culture, if there’s more that a the stores could do?

When Hulk and Iron Man came out; why wasn’t there more promotional material? What0”s worse… why didn’t History of Violence or Persepolis bring in a whole new demographic of customer? Now, with Watchmen coming out… goddamn WATCHMEN!!!! … I’m still not seeing posters and events in the comic book stores. Waterstones and even independent bookstores seem to be cashing in though.

The industry has been failing for well over a decade (though I’ve heard that recently sales are rising).  I’ve spoken with staff in large bookstores who have commented on how their comics sections just keeps growing.

Yet still comic book stores, evironments that I love, are not welcoming to new readers. Persepolis, especially in areas like Clapham, could have dragged in some new customers.  Female (gasp!) readers looking for something new, a few of which might have been hooked on DC’s Minx line. The film was sold out for weeks in an arthouse cinema just a few blocks from the store; could there have been some promotion or marketing between the two businesses? Watchmen will be released in a few short weeks; how many absolute editions could be sold to well-paid movie buffs? The stores I know are dark secret affairs; enchanting to fans but intimidating to newcomers. They need dusting off. They need ‘staff recommends’ stickers. They need a new approach.

I love comics. I really do. I love the artwork and the stories and the, sometimes cheesy, heroism. But, the stores are closing and readers are getting old and leaving. We have to try something new.