Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas talk about the film Joker (2019 ) and it’s sociological significance to our current zeitgeist of despair.
Topics:
The social crisis of despair in America
The alienated loner in our society
Theme of humiliation
Oppositions to the film from the Woke Neoliberal Establishment, while Michael Moore Calls ‘Joker’ a Masterpiece Woke media’s allegations that ‘Joker’ validates White Male rage Marc Maron on ‘Joker’: Don’t Blame Movies for Criminal Actions of the Mentally Ill
Dark comedic nihilism with no moralistic narrative of good vs. evil
Cult following online among memers and dissident rightests
Director Todd Phillips, his background in lighthearted sex comedies, and how he stopped making comedies due to “Woke Culture”
How the film is as controversial as it can afford to be within Hollywood
Plutocratic mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne who could symbolize a caricature of Trump, but also echoes Hillary Clinton’s Basket of deplorables phrase
Class warfare theme
The Anarchist theme of creating chaos and tearing down society
Symbolism of the clown
Mental health
Comparison’s to Taxi Driver
Aesthetics of the film set in Gotham City, based on gritty New York City in the early 80s
Will Durham has been collecting and preserving neon signs for over 25 years, and has one of the largest collections in the world. Check out the Nevada Neon Project on Instagram and Facebook.
Topics:
Collecting signs from closing businesses
The main focus of preserving signs
The process of rescuing a sign
Displaying signs to the public at events Neon named Nevada’s official element
Walking tours of Downtown Reno
The decline of Reno as a gambling destination, revitalization, and what it means for neon
Newer signage, incorporating new neon, and businesses adopting older signs
The lack of historic preservation regulation
Collecting signage from larger casinos including the Peppermill, Harold’s Club, and Fitzgerald in Reno, and The Riviera in Las Vegas
Saving The Virginian’s Casino letters
The Eldorado Casino’s external neon silhouette
The Carson Nugget and Cactus Jacks in Carson City
The dwindling of neon at Lake Tahoe, and The Stardust Lodge
There’s something to be said for those in whom the sign of the times less offers an omen and more flashes across their periphery like a neon sign at an amusement park.
In 2019, the assumed excesses of prefixing an ‘Alt’ to any political fringe is virtually guaranteed to incite misunderstanding, scrutiny and suspicion. In that sense, the Alt-Center is a shameless affair. However, it isn’t shameless merely because of its ideas – which are eclectic – but rather, because of its ultimately strategic knowledge of where it sits within the dissident sphere.
The impending antiquation of older ways of thinking about politics is not for them an indication that some inevitable new path will soon announce itself, for which they will conveniently be the vanguard. Rather, this antiquation is for them an occasion to consider the possibility of creating something wholly new whose expression may unfold in ways as varied as one could imagine.
Journalist, artist, novelist and host of Stark Truth Radio, Robert Stark, has built something of a salon for Alt-Center ideas on his show, where, as of late, one may hear talk of Starkianism – existing in its own corner of Alt-Centrism. Roughly put, Alt-Centrism is where ideas of the dissident right and dissident left meet, and is itself comprised of concepts such as Aesthetic Socialism, Aristocratic Radicalism and Alt-Urbanism.
Las Vegas as the quintessential Post Modernist City
Creating an other wordy aura that does not exist in mundane consumerism
Creating something noble or grandiose out of consumerism
Las Vegas as an economic rather than geographic concept
Nothing permanent because architecture only survives if profitable
Vintage Vegas and Neon Signage
Irony of historic preservationist dismissing architecture of value because it is a product of capitalism
The pros and cons of private zoning
Casino Resorts functioning as an arcology or self contained city
Theme parks as models for urbanism
The potential for an urban alternative to over priced West Coast Cities
St. George Utah, sprawl layout, and high trust homogeneous middle class demographic Alt-Urbanist solutions that seek to recreate those attributes in an urban setting
Southern Utah and Northern Arizona as one of the most scenic and geologically diverse regions in the world
Bonanza Gift Shop
Fremont East
The Western Hotel
Fremont Street Experience
Four Queens Casino
Fremont Casino
Binion’s Gambling Hall
Golden Gate Casino
California Hotel & Casino
Plaza Hotel & Casino
Boulder Highway
Boulder Station
Sam’s Town
Robert Stark talks to Sven Kirsten about Tiki Culture. Sven Kirsten is a Director of Photography, urban archaeologist and self-admitted “visual junkie.” Sven has spent over 20 years researching and documenting the world of Tiki and Polynesian Pop. Sven’s four books on Tiki include The Book of Tiki, Tiki Pop, Tiki Modern and The Art of Tiki.
Topics:
Sven’s background as a cinematographer and his work on music videos for Madonna, Bill Joel, and The Cramps(IMDB Filmography)
The West’s fascination with Tiki, originating in Polynesia, from the explorer James Cook to the artist Paul Gauguin
Tiki’s popularity in Southern California in the Film Industry and in 50’s design
The Current Tiki revival
Sven’s favorite bar Tiki Ti
History of Trader Vic’s, the venue at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, and Sven’s upcoming book
The handcrafted wood carvings of Tiki venues
Tiki Neon and the building as a sign
The difference between Tiki and Hawaiiana
Devolution of Tiki style to the “Fantasy Island”/Fern bar style in the 70’s
Historic preservation losses and victories
The Tonga Room in San Francisco, it’s preservation, and the Tiki lounge as an urban oasis
The Tiki Room and defunct Tahitian Terrace at Disneyland
Exhibition at the Musee de Quai Branley in Paris
Sven’s upcoming book “Aztec Hotel” about Art Deco Mayan and Aztec revival