PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR JUNE 11

On this day in the year 1184 BC, the Greeks capture some unlucky bastard by the name of Troy.

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On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.

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On this day in 1920, US Republican Party leaders gather in a room at the Blackstone Hotel to come to a consensus on their candidate for the presidential election, leading the Associated Press to first coin the political phrase smoke-filled room.

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On this day in 1936, the International Surrealist Exhibition opens in London, England, leading to a blackface banana smoking mirror-melting penis-knife.

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On this day in 1955, eighty-three are killed and at least 100 more are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide during Le Mans. It remains, to this day, the deadliest ever accident in motorsports.

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On this day in 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending that school. Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, they are able to register.

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Remember that Buddhist monk who set himself on fire in the streets of Saigon to protest the war in Vietnam? Actually, there were a bunch of them, but the first one, the one whose picture we all remember, was named Quang Duc. After training for years to ensure that he maintained control through the agony and didn't thrash, Quang Duc set himself alight to protest South Vietnamese treatment of the Buddhist minority, on this day in the year 1963. When his remains were burned a second time, for cremation, the flames refused to devour his sainted heart, which became a holy relic. The honorific Thic was bestowed upon Quang Duc in recognition of his status as a Bodhisattva. Look it up.

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On this day in 1964, World War II veteran Walter Seifert runs amok in an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.

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On this day in 1979, "American icon" John Wayne dies of the cancer he caught from all the time he spent on the radioactive set of 1956’s Howard Hughes epic flop, The Conqueror.

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On this day in 2001, "American icon" Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR MAY 3

On this day in 1469, Italian historian and political thinker Niccolò Machiavelli - author of The Prince and favorite philosopher of neoconservative Godfather Leo Strauss - is born.

***

On this day in 1616, prolifically productive wordsmith William Shakespeare is alleged to have died, although some people claim he passed away on April 23, while others claim he never even existed, at all.

***

On this day in 1802, America's capital city, Washington, D.C. is incorporated, featuring a distinctly diabolical layout, courtesy of Master Mason and civic planner Pierre Charles L'Enfante. Quite disturbing that the old esoteric saying "as above, so below" should apply to road maps as well as it does to... other things.

***

On this day in 1938, the Vatican officially recognizes Generalissimo Francisco Franco's government in Spain. In the forty years between his inauguration and the end of his murderous, fascist reign in the 1970's, it was never suggested that perhaps it might be a good idea to deny Franco the right to receive Holy Communion, as a symbolic show of disapproval for his brutal tactics. Come to think of it, they never said "peep" to Mussolini, either. American Democratic politicians, on the other hand...

***

On this day in 1963, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior delivers his "I have a dream" speech. Meanwhile, in Birmingham, Alabama, the police force there decide to confront the Birmingham campaign protesters with fire-hoses, billy-clubs and vicious attack dogs. That night, newscasts around the world are filled with King's powerful oratory juxtaposed with scenes of brutal and violent police suppression.

PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR MAY 2

On this day in 1536, England's Queen Anne Boleyn - consort to King Henry VIII (who destroyed the Catholic Church in England just to be with her), and mother of the woman who would go on to become the hugely influential Queen Elizabeth I (last of England's Tudor royals) - is arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft. She would be found guilty of all charges and beheaded 19 days later. Ah... fickle fate!

***

On this day in 1670, King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America. That's right... a permanent charter. In fact, there's a whole whack of information about Hudson's Bay Co. that seems ripe for parapolitical exploration.

***

On this day in 1808, the people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation, prompting Goya to memorialize the event in his painting The Second of May 1808.

***

On this day in 1816, German/Belgian royal Léopold de Saxe-Coburg marries Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, thus initiating the "royal" Saxe-Coburg Gotha bloodline - name-changed to Windsor in England around the time of the Great War, due to anti-German sentiment - that has ruled much of the "free" world over the last century-and-a-half.

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On this day in 1933, Adolf Hitler bans trade unions in Germany.

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On this day, not one but two ultra-right-wing American lunatics kick the bucket. In 1957, Senator Joe McCarthy, of Red Scare II infamy, dies of multiple health problems exacerbated by alcohol and general mean spiritedness. In 1972, J. Edgar Hoover - whose abuses of power make Joe McCarthy's seem almost adorable by comparison - dies when his own shriveled black heart finally realizes exactly the type of vile creature its beats had helped to sustain over the years before giving up in disgust. Oh, and by the way, contrary to popular legend, from Little Rock to organized crime, he also pretty much sucked at his job.

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On this day in 1998, the European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy. So far, it seems to be working out just fine, disregarding the UK in 2016.

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On this day in 2000, President Bill Clinton announces that super-accurate GPS technology would no longer be restricted to the United States military, paving the way for some very interesting and useful consumer technology... as well as the allowing for the propagation of a technology that will eventually facilitate the more perfect tracking of pretty much every single citizen in our rapidly evolving Surveillance State.

***

And, finally, on this day in 2011, Americans celebrate Mission Accomplished Day – Part II when President Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the evil genius mastermind behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, had been found, then killed, in full-throttle action-movie style by SEAL Team Six in Abbottabad, Pakistan! Of course, he couldn't show us Osama's corpse, because it was dumped at sea in an undisclosed location, in accordance with some kind of Muslim religious doctrine that nobody's ever heard of before. And of course, they couldn't show us any photographic evidence of his death, because that would have been disrespectful to one of the worst alleged mass-murderers in the history of mass-murder... right? I mean, it's not like there's anything fishy about all this... right? Right?! By the way, there is one group that performs burials at sea for "dishonored enemies"... Freemasons! Trying to find a link to back this up, but all Google can find is a song called "Burial at Sea" by some shitty band called The Secret Lives of Freemasons. Interesting how that works out, idnit?

PARACULTURAL CALENDAR FOR APRIL 26

On this day in 1937, the Nazis test the bombing capabilities of their newly inaugurated Luftwaffe air force on the tiny Spanish town of Guernica, with Generalisimo Francisco Franco's consent. For three hours, German planes poured bombs on the town in what was history's first ever bombing of purely civilian targets, a tactic that would later be enthusiastically adopted by both sides of the conflict, at the ultimate cost of millions of innocent lives. The attack inspired Picasso to paint his great masterpiece, Guernica.

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On this day in 1962, roughly three days after being launched, NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft - which was designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data, and to study the potential radar reflectivity of the lunar surface - fails to do ANY of those things after a computer malfunction causes it to crash into the dark side of the Moon.

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On this day in 1986, a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant in the Soviet Union melts down, killing 31 and irradiating hundreds of thousands more. It was, and still remains, the single worst nuclear accident in history, with a legacy that is just... it's... it's beyond words, is what it is.

DDD SUGGESTED READING LIST ~ DEC 18, 2014

1. Not so much suggested reading as suggested looking in this case, I urge you to check out this io9 story about artist Yong Ho Ji, who takes old, worn out vehicular tires, tears them to shreds, and then turns them into ridiculously beautiful things. Along with an extensive gallery of some of Yong's most beautiful artworks, there is also a short documentary about the artist and his work. Here is that film:

2. Speaking of ornate and beautiful objects, this incredibly detailed, exquisitely machined, combination desk and cabinet, hand-crafted for King Frederick William II by the celebrated Roentgen Brothers may just make you re-think your too-cool-for-school attitude towards the value and appeal of antique furniture!

One of the finest achievements of European furniture making, this cabinet is the most important product from Abraham and David Roentgen's workshop. A writing cabinet crowned with a chiming clock, it features finely designed marquetry panels and elaborate mechanisms that allow for doors and drawers to be opened automatically at the touch of a button. The Berlin cabinet is uniquely remarkable for its ornate decoration, mechanical complexity, and sheer size. This cabinet is from Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and is on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens.

Take a gander for yourself!

3. All you slightly older cinema fans out there should read this wonderful remembrance of Alfred Hitchcock by his friend and fellow filmmaker David Freeman. Although occasionally agonizing to read, it's also quite wonderful in places. For instance, try not to be drawn in by this introduction:

He was a bit like the Eiffel Tower. You hear about it all your life, and when you finally see the damn thing, it looks so much like the postcards, it's difficult to see it fresh. Hitchcock's public self was so distinct that it was often impossible to know if I was dealing with the corporeal man or the invented persona. I think he sometimes got it confused, particularly in his storytelling. He was a well-known raconteur, and some of his stories were widely known and repeated - often by him. There were times when he seemed to feel obliged to tell Alfred Hitchcock stories. Sometimes he was at the top of his form and told them well; other times less so. I was aware of this and, as I came to see, so was he. With his high-waisted black suits--with trousers that rested above his enormous belly, leaving just a few inches of white shirt exposed and with a black tie tucked into his pants--he looked positively fictional, out of Dickens, perhaps, or a banker by Evelyn Waugh.

It gets better from there. Enjoy!

DDD SUGGESTED READING LIST ~ DEC 10, 2014

1. This article from Dangerous Minds might be the most frustrating thing I've come across today, because it's all about a "jaw-dropping" German documentary about the preeminent Luciferian/Thelemite experimental filmmaker/artist/writer of our age, Kenneth Anger. But the video that it sets up so beautifully - Kenneth Anger: Film as Magical Ritual - has been removed from Youtube, and I can't find it anywhere else, for the life of me. All I can find is this tiny excerpt:

Considering what the article has to say about this documentary, this inability to link to the film is proving frustrating in the extreme. So if any of you reading this know where I can see it, by all means contact me and let me know. I mean, if it serves as "as direct an explanation of Anger’s cinemagical modus operandi as I have ever heard him articulate anywhere", and is "a must see for anyone interested in his work and showcases the Magus of cinema at the very height of his artistic powers", then goddamnit, I wanna see it, and share it! Keep your eyes peeled for future updates.

2. While we're waiting for someone to dig up the Anger doc, why not spend some time learning about what Flavorwire considers to be the 50 Weirdest Movies Ever Made? Personally, I've seen 20, with most of the ones I've missed being from various Asian nations (Thailand, the Philippines), and some of them don't really deserve to be listed here. For instance, Zardoz, Crimewave and Boxing Helena are odd, no doubt... but among the weirdest films ever made? With such baffling offerings as Holy Motors, Amer, and Upstream Color not making the list, perhaps it is in need of a rethink. Anyway, if the films listed in Flavorwire's article aren't obscure enough for you, here's Games Radar's list of 50 Amazing Films You've Never Seen. I found a lot more strange pickings there, including a few I'd never even heard of before, much less seen. And I try to see a LOT. The lo-fi, super-hostile French anti-American 70's satire Mr. Freedom was a particularly odd revelation. You can watch the first part, below, and pick up the rest on Youtube.

3. And what better way to finish things off than by linking to an ass-load of Totally EVIL Paintings?! Many of the usual suspects - and a great many who were influenced by these usual suspects - are represented here, as there is a great focus on Lovecraftian, apocalyptic horrors. However, any such gallery that chooses to omit even a single piece by Thomas "Painter of Light" Kinkade is kind of missing the boat, if you ask me.

PENTAGRAM SAM - DA GRIMSTON AND MIST-E... OCCULT RAP

He's got Satan on speed-dial, apparently. A few too many Lovecraft references here for anyone out there to take this too seriously. Still, kind of fun.

I, PET GOAT II

This gorgeous animated short by a group of Montreal artists calling themselves Heliofant has inspired a ton of ridiculous, piss-poor analysis by the usual Xian, Illuminati-phobic suspects all over the Interwebs. This incredible piece of work (and I mean that on every level of the word) merits every second of the seven minutes of your undivided attention that it demands. You may watch it here, of course, but I recommend you download it from the source, at the creators' website.

ON THIS DAY IN PARAPOLITICAL HISTORY - MAY 3

On this day in 1469, Italian historian and political thinker Niccolò Machiavelli - author of The Prince and favorite philosopher of neoconservative Godfather Leo Strauss - is born.

On this day in 1616, prolifically productive wordsmith William Shakespeare is alleged to have died, although some people claim he passed away on April 23, while others claim he never even existed, at all.

On this day in 1802, America's capital city, Washington, D.C. is incorporated, featuring a distinctly diabolical layout, courtesy of Master Mason and civic planner Pierre Charles L'Enfante. Quite disturbing that the old esoteric saying "as above, so below" should apply to road maps as well as it does to... other things.

On this day in 1938, the Vatican officially recognizes Generalissimo Francisco Franco's government in Spain. In the forty years between his inauguration and the end of his murderous, fascist reign in the 1970's, it was never suggested that perhaps it might be a good idea to deny Franco the right to receive Holy Communion, as a symbolic show of disapproval for his brutal tactics. Come to think of it, they never said "peep" to Mussolini, either. American Democratic politicians, on the other hand...

 On this day in 1963, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior delivers his "I have a dream" speech. Meanwhile, in Birmingham, Alabama, the police force there decide to confront the Birmingham campaign protesters with fire-hoses, billy-clubs and vicious attack dogs. That night, newscasts around the world are filled with King's powerful oratory juxtaposed with scenes of brutal and violent police suppression.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out THIS DAY IN PARAPOLITICAL HISTORY for MAY 1 and MAY 2, too! They had EVERYTHING!

ON THIS DAY IN PARAPOLITICAL HISTORY - MAY 2

May 2

On this day in 1536, England's Queen Anne Boleyn - consort to King Henry VIII (who destroyed the Catholic Church in England just to be with her), and mother of the woman who would go on to become the hugely influential Queen Elizabeth I (last of England's Tudor royals) - is arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft. She would be found guilty of all charges and beheaded 19 days later. Ah... fickle fate!

On this day in 1670, King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America. That's right... a permanent charter. In fact, there's a whole whack of information about Hudson's Bay Co. that seems ripe for parapolitical exploration.

On this day in 1808, the people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation, prompting Goya to memorialize the event in his painting The Second of May 1808.

On this day in 1816, German/Belgian royal Léopold de Saxe-Coburg marries Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, thus initiating the "royal" Saxe-Coburg Gotha bloodline - name-changed to "Windsor" in England around the time of the Great War, due to anti-German sentiment - that has ruled much of the "free" world over the last century-and-a-half.

On this day in 1933, Adolf Hitler bans trade unions in Germany.

On this day, not one but two ultra-right-wing American lunatics kick the bucket. In 1957, Senator Joe McCarthy, of Red Scare II infamy, dies of multiple health problems exacerbated by alcohol and general mean-spiritedness. In 1972, J. Edgar Hoover - whose abuses of power make Joe McCarthy's seem almost adorable by comparison - dies when his own shriveled black heart finally realizes exactly the type of vile creature its beats had helped to sustain over the years before giving up in disgust. Oh, and by the way... from Little Rock to organized crime, he also pretty much sucked at his job.

On this day in 1998, the European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy. So far, it seems to be working out just fine.

On this day in 2000, President Bill Clinton announces that super-accurate GPS technology would no longer be restricted to the United States military, paving the way for some very interesting and useful consumer technology... as well as the allowing for the propagation of a technology that will eventually facilitate the more perfect tracking of pretty much every single citizen in our rapidly evolving Surveillance State.

And, finally, on this day in 2011, Americans celebrate “Mission Accomplished Day – Part II” when President Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the evil genius mastermind behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, had been found, then killed, in full-throttle action-movie style by SEAL Team Six in Abbottabad, Pakistan! Of course, he couldn't show us Osama's corpse, because it was dumped at sea in an undisclosed location, in accordance with some kind of Muslim religious doctrine that nobody's ever heard of before. And of course, they couldn't show us any photographic evidence of his death, because that would have been disrespectful to one of the worst alleged mass-murderers in the history of mass-murder... right? I mean, it's not like there's anything fishy about all this... right? Right?!

CREEPY 1985 CLAYMATION

I don't know about you guys, but when I was a kid flipping channels and I came across claymation, I stopped and watched, no matter what the subject. There's just something about the process of claymation that seems magical and otherworldly... almost Biblical, really. After all, what are we if not God's Golems; shaped clay with the magical spark of life inside of us? Anyway, I find it amusing that this claymation adaptation of an unfinished Mark Twain story addresses that very point, in very effective and extremely creepy fashion. Some might find it distasteful that such disturbing subject matter was deemed appropriate for children. Personally, I think it's fine, and well worth watching. So I share it with all of you. As always, comments are welcome!