1980 Documentary on the Making of Punk Zine Guttersnipe in Telford, England

by Cimaxion

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Councillor Mrs. Mary Potts described the magazine as ‘decadent’ and ‘utter filth.’

I can’t imagine a better compliment for a zine really.

This is a 1980 television documentary produced by the BBC’s Community Programme’s Unit which specialized in what amounts to local access television. This one is a very down to earth look at a small town British punk zine called ‘Guttersnipe.’ What’s great about this film is how it lets the people do the talking. It doesn’t make the mistake that a lot of television made back in the seventies and eighties when they tried to define the punk movement in rather stilted terms which only served to expose the terror of the producers themselves when faced with something they didn’t understand.

The young people in this film speak with honesty, frustration and great humor. They weren’t willing to accept boring so they made a culture with what was at hand. We can learn a lot from these Telford punks today when we seem so in the spell of technology corporations that it is hard to imagine ever creating a culture again. How do you ever feel unsatisfied when you have an iPhone in your hand and can read anything written anywhere on earth within seconds? How do you muster the energy to stop twiddling thumbs and print something? Or play a guitar?

Sure, I love computers as much as anyone else. I find them incredibly inspiring and empowering. Perhaps it’s really the Web that’s the problem. Not the machines.

The Web has become a nearly unusable up and down scrolling mechanism so burdened underneath the weight of endless and intrusive advertising that I personally dread visiting nine out of ten web sites. There is very little pleasure in browsing anymore. It’s not a nice environment. Things pause, pop into your face, jump around the screen, go inexplicably black, stop mid video, suddenly rewind, jump left, jump right, go totally blank and infect your computer. It’s basically hell. The Web as a reading experience stinks now. No question about it.

Makes one want a zine in one’s hands to sit back and read like humans were meant to read.

Enjoy the documentary.

Supreme Court Makes Equal Marriage Rights the Law of the Land

by Cimaxion

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In a truly revolutionary and long overdue ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has rendered invalid all laws across the United States that prevent same sex marriages.

It’s a day of celebration for all in recognition of a simple and profound truth: marriage is indeed a basic human right.

Justice Kennedy wrote this final paragraph of the Court’s ruling:

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. The judgement of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed.

It is so ordered.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, says it all. It’s a rebuke to the forces of bigotry. It should leave many people across the land hanging their heads in shame for ever suggesting that marriage is reserved for only one group of people.

If you held that belief at one time and have since changed, that’s a great step. You’ve come a long way.

If you still believe marriage is only for heterosexual couples, you may very well have some additional issues. I would suggest moving to South Carolina and hanging a confederate flag in your garage. Maybe you could buy lots of guns and ammunition for a final holdout. Whatever. The point I’m making is this: good riddance.

Star Odyssey: Ludicrous 1978 Italian Star Wars Rip-Off

by Cimaxion

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Hopefully, you have never seen ‘Star Odyssey,’ also known as ‘the Italian Star Wars.’

Now is your chance! It’s a full immersion into cinema of the ludicrous. For your convenience, it’s dubbed into English. Beware though, you will never look at science fiction the same way again after subjecting yourself to this assault.

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One can only hope that at least the actors might have had some fun making this, but unfortunately most of them appear to be thinking about the food truck instead of their lines.

Its awful history goes back to 1978, barely a year after the real Star Wars was released. Its unforgivable direction is credited to one Alfonso Brescia, heaven rest his soul.

The primary achievements of this interstellar fiasco appear to be robots constructed from trash cans and light sabers fashioned out of painted plywood.

Enjoy this Italian treat in the comfort of a nice quiet insane asylum.

The Little Mermaid: 1968 Soviet Animation of the Tale by Hans Christian Andersen

by Cimaxion

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This is a beautiful 1968 Soviet adaptation of ‘The Little Mermaid,’ by Hans Christian Andersen. It was produced by the great Soyuzmultfilm studio. There are no subtitles. Just enjoy it as a brilliantly animated musical approach to a great tale.

The film begins with a busload of tourists sightseeing in Copenhagen. Then it moves to sea and our story begins…

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The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights: Russian Fairytale Animation

by Cimaxion

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This is a 1951 Russian animation of an 1833 fairytale poem written by Alexander Pushkin that is based upon the classic Grimms tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was directed by Ivan Pyetrovich Ivanov-Vano, known as the ‘patriarch of Soviet animation.’

You can read Pushkin’s The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights.

The film is in Russian so you can use the YouTube settings to turn on English subtitles.