Category Archives: 1960’s

Alt-Center Solutions to LA’s Urban and Social Dynamics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and  Matthew Pegas discuss their recent trip to Downtown LA, Matthew’s experience as a newcomer to the city, observations on the regions cultural dynamics, and solutions to social and urban problems.

Topics:

Skid Row, “ruin porn” and the Creepy History of the Cecil Hotel
Gentrification of the Historic Core
Broadway, neon signs and historic theatre marquees, and plans to revitalize and light up Broadway’s signs
Historic landmarks including the European style Spring Arcade and Art Deco Eastern Columbia Building
The Arts District, art bros, and the chadification of the hipster scene
The South Park highrise boom and new tallest skyscraper the Wilshire Grand
80’s Art Deco revival and new highrises influenced by Mid-Century aesthetics
John C. Portman’s Retro Futuristic Westin Bonaventure HotelInterior Urbanism, and Fredric Jameson’s Postmodernist review
The pros and cons of diversity and issues of social cohesion
The appeal of enjoying diversity from exclusive enclaves
The LA County Jail, Donny the Punk, and Jail as a metaphor for the problems of American society
The extreme social, economic, and aesthetic inequality in LA
Social problems caused by mass immigration, Neoliberal economics, and sprawl oriented development
Robert’s article Building a Based Urban Middle Class SWPL Utopia
Sane urbanist solutions to right wing grievances such as White flight
The political ironies of gentrification as re-colonization of urban areas
Family formation and reasons for declining demographics such as housing and education
How these social problems are now impacting the upper middle class demographically
An Alt-Center must offer solutions that cater to urban needs
Building a political movement based on aesthetics with visions for new urban communities
The hypocrisy of pro-immigration liberal elite NIMBY’s
How combining YIMBY policies with immigration restriction will gradually rebuild the urban middle class

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s PaintingsStark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




The Starkian Lynch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas discuss the work of David Lynch and the parallels between the “Lynchian” and “Starkian.” Matthew Pegas blogs at Alt of Center | Life. Liberty. And the Pursuit of Beauty.

Topics:

Intro: The Northern Lights – Falling (feat. Lucy Black)
Lynch’s Politics: Admired Ronald Reagan and supported The Natural Law Party
Lynch Endorsed Bernie Sanders and later proclaimed that ‘Trump Could Go Down as One of the Greatest Presidents’
Lynch as an Alt Centrist
Lynch’s interest in Transcendental Meditation which taps into one’s sub-conscience
Lynch as a lone Aristocratic Radical in Hollywood
How capitalism creates faux cultural elites
Lynch’s entry to Hollywood via connections through Mel Brooks which solidified his role in Elephant Man
Lynch’s cinematographic basis as a visual artist and the theme of Neonationalism
The Lynchian aesthetic vs. the Starkian aesthetic and defining what is “Lynchian” and “Starkian”
Lynch and Stark’s self indulgences in their work
Lynch’s interest in Retro aesthetics: Film Noir, animated neon, Mid-Century Modern, and 80’s Vaporwave
Lynch’s affinity for small town Americana and the theme of a dark underbelly to small town life
How the first Twin Peaks portrays a romanticized image of the town, while the new one portrays a more realistic image
The Great Northern as a model for creating aesthetically pleasing suburbs that implement the romanticized image of the small town
Lynch should design a theme park or Las Vegas casino
The soundtrack of Twin Peaks includes a wide variety of genres ranging from 80’s Synth, Old Western, Film Noir Jazz, and 50’s Rock
How the fusion of genres makes it somewhat vague as to when it takes place
Ben Horne as an Old School capitalist who does things that are ethically wrong  yet is rooted in his community
The Black Lodge: it’s symbolism and aesthetics
The philosophy that fear is the opposite of love rather than hate
Mulholland Drive: the themes of Hollywood power and paranoia due to insecurities
Dune: the aesthetics of Dune are more important than the plot
Retro Futurism in Dune: Middle Eastern Archeofuturism, Steampunk, and 80’s aesthetics
Blue Velvet: Sadistic male figures, eroticized rage, and establishing hierarchy through sexual dominance
“Lynchian” themes and references to Twin Peaks in Robert Stark’s novel Journey to Vapor Island

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark talks to Francis Nally about Fast Food Nationalism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Francis Nally blogs at www.pilleater.com, has a YouTube Channel, and produces music at Phteven Universe.

Topics:

Francis’ article Fast Food Fascism & It’s Esoteric Meaning
Francis’ Lexicon
The “innate fascism” lurking behind crass popular culture
The origins behind the unpop art movement and Neofolk
The Unpop theme of using pop culture imagery to depict transgressive material
How controversial icons can look “cute” next to family friendly imagery of popular culture
Shaun Partridge and Partridge Family Temple
Pop culture from the 1960’s through 1980’s
Francis’ critique of Spencer J. Quinn’s  review on Counter-Currents about the new Incredibles 2 film
The Alt-Right’s use of making far-right symbols cool, while Fast-food Nationalism uncovers the “hipness” of corporate logos
Making collage art out of outdated pop culture memes and esoteric religion to make something new
The low brow art scene and the art of Ron EnglishFrank KozikTrevor Brown, and Mark Ryden
Musician David Thrussell’s ironic use of Fast Food imagery
Ralph Nader’s wisdom of how you can’t avoid advertisements in daily life
Going beyond memes and irony to create a positive vision
How a new Apocalypse Culture is replacing the Alt-Right
The intersectionality of HomonationalismNeonationalism, The Alt-Left/Center, and Post Neo-Folk
The artist creating the vision vs. meta-politics
Embracing late capitalist materialism to find eternal peace and “Nirvana”
Meming pop cultural products towards an identitarian end
The CalArts movement

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark interviews Peter Moruzzi about Mid-Century Modern

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Cartrell Payne(The Adventure Kid) talk to Peter Moruzzi. Peter was born in Concord, Massachusetts and raised in Hawaii, he graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and later attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. In 1999, he founded the Palm Springs Modern Committee (PS ModCom) an architectural preservation group. He is the author of “Havana Before Castro: When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground,” “Palm Springs Holiday: A Vintage Tour From Palm Springs to the Salton Sea,” “Classic Dining:Discovering America’s Finest Mid-Century Restaurants,” “Palm Springs Paradise: Vintage Photographs from America’s Desert Playground,” and “Greetings from Los Angeles.”

Topics:

Classic Dining: Discovering America’s Finest Mid-Century Restaurants
Grand Central Oyster Bar
Historic Preservation
Notable Mid-Century architects including Richard Neutra and Joseph Eichler 
A Eulogy for the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York
Neon Signs
Dal Rae Replaces Historic Neon for Ugly Backlit Plastic
The Mob, the El Cortez, and the Flamingo
Tiki culture
The Tonga Room in San Francisco
Palm Springs Paradise
Melvyn’s Restaurant in Palm Springs
Greetings from Los Angeles
L.A.’s Backyard Oil Well Fever!
Norms Restaurants in LA
Googie, Space Age, and the International Style
Mid-Century Modern highrises including Eichler’s highrises in San Francisco and the Sierra Towers in LA
The Madonna Inn
70’s Mayan themed Architecture
Havana Before Castro: When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground
Mid-Century Modern Furniture including Danish Modern, Italian Murano Lamps, and Swiss Swiza Clock
Nationwide Map of Classic Restaurants Now on Google Maps

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark interviews Architect Adam Mayer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam Mayer is an architect based out of San Francisco. Check out his TwitterInstagram, and Architectural Portfolio.

Topics:

Growing up in Los Gatos which is a small town on the edge of the Silicon Valley
Studying architecture at USC and observations on LA
Art Deco and Mid Century Modern Architecture in LA
New Urbanism and Retrofitting suburbia
The Bay Area Housing Crisis and the importance of developing smartly while protecting greenbelts
How ugly architecture leads to NIMBY sentiment and why the YIMBY movement needs to address aesthetics
California Senate bill would force more dense housing near transit hubs
Working on a redevelopment project at the Walnut Creek BART Station
San Francisco’s SOMA district’s new skyline
San Francisco’s new Transbay Terminal
Architect John C. Portman; The Embarcadero Center and Hyatt in San Francisco and the extension of the urban realm to the inside
Architect Jon Jerde; his projects including Westside Pavilion and the Universal City Walk in LA, Horton Plaza in San Diego, and the Wynn and Bellagio in Las Vegas
Architect William Pereira who designed the Trans-America Pyramid in San Francisco
Brutalism
1980’s architecture and whether it will make a comeback
Frank Gehry
Modernism vs. Postmodernism and where to draw the boundary
How current architecture lacks one cohesive aesthetic
Adam’s work as an architect in China, master planned projects, and observations on architecture in China
Winner Take All? Richard Florida’s ‘New Urban Crisis’
How to accommodate families in cities

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark talks to Lynn Zook about Gambling on a Dream Volume 2

Robert Stark talks to Lynn Zook about her new book Gambling on a Dream Volume 2:. This second volume of a two-part multimedia book tells the fascinating story of the Las Vegas Strip hotels built during the turbulent years of cultural and societal change, 1956-1973. Nowadays, alongside traditional casinos, people can go online to sites such as togel singapore for easier access to their gambling/lottery needs. In the digital age in which we live today, online gambling has really taken over the world. This is indicated by the number of people using parhaat nettikasinot (the best online casinos) for entertainment or as preparation for a real casino setting. Competition is still fierce though. Online casinos have to offer bonuses and other initiatives to tempt gamers in. Want to learn How to receive the first deposit bonus? If so, doing some research on casino review websites is strongly recommended. Back to the book though, Lynn Zook also runs the website Classic Las Vegas, and has produced an hour-long, first person narrative documentary on the history of Las Vegas entitled “The Story of Classic Las Vegas. Check out Robert Stark’s first interview with Lynn Zook on Gambling on a Dream Volume 1.

Topics:

Lynn’s first book Gambling on a Dream: The Classic Las Vegas Strip 1930-1955
Lynn’s interest and personal connection to Vintage Las Vegas
Caesars Palace
The Hacienda
The Stardust
The Aladdin
The original MGM Grand which is now Bally’s
The International which is now the Westin
The English Tudor themed Tally Ho which was built by the creator of Yahtzee
How the Tropicana and Circus Circus are the last two remaining from this era
The Sin City Era
The Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra
The showrooms and variety show performers
The role of the Mob
Historic Preservation and the Neon Museum
Lynn’s upcoming book on Fremont Street and Downtown

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Round Table Discussion on Charlottesville & Political Polarization

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark joined with Keith Preston of Attack the System, Sam Kevorkian, J.G. Michael, and Joshua Zeidner discuss the “Unite The Right” event in Charlottesville Virginia, the aftermath, and it’s implications for political discourse.

Topics:

Keith Preston’s essay Some Initial Thoughts on Charlottesville
How the message of the rally was unclear and incoherent; the “Occupy Wall Street” of the Right
The media’s reaction and the Public relations disaster for the Alt-Right
How the Police handled the event and past cases where the Police were ordered to stand down
Trump’s diplomatic response
How both the Alt-Right and SJW Left are reacting to growing wealth disparities; including many former members of the Upper Middle Class
Political polarization as a reflection of alienation among youth
Conspiracy theories about both left and right wing protesters being controlled opposition
The rise of the far right and left and the ineptitude of the Center
The political fragmentation of the Elites and the Media
The rise in political violence
The massive online crackdown on the Alt-Right in the aftermath of Charlottesville
Corporate censorship(ex.VDARE targeted by corporate left)
Extending the First Amendment to corporations
ACLU: White Supremacists no longer entitled to all First Amendment rights
Noam Chomsky: Antifa is a ‘major gift to the Right’

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark interviews Music Composer Dana Countryman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, co-host Pilleater, and Cartrell Payne(The Adventure Kid)talk to music composer Dana Countryman.

Topics:

Intro: How Do You Know When You Fall IN LOVE? from the album Girlville!
Dana’s latest album Girlville! inspired by early 60’s music
Dana’s rediscovery of early 60’s girl groups such as The Ronettes, The Crystals, and The Shangri-Las
The Retro Pop genre
Dana’s album – Moog-Tastic and the Moog Synthesizer
Dana’s collaboration with French musician Jean-Jacques Perrey who was the founder of the electronic genre in the 1950’s
Dana’s biography about Perrey Passport To The Future: The Amazing Life and Music of Electronic Pop Music Pioneer Jean-Jacques Perrey
Dana’s interview for the book with Twin Peaks composer Angelo Badalamenti who produced Perrey’s albums in the 60’s
Perrey co-writing the music for Disneyland’s Main Street Electrical Parade
Dana’s Cool and Strange Music Magazine
Chicken On The Rocks by Jean Jacques-Perrey & Dana Countryman which was feature on South Park
Dana’s comedy vocal group in the 80’s The Amazing Pink Things
“Jealous Heart” by Dana Countryman inspired by Fountain of Wayne
“Baby, I’ll Be Your Star” by Dana Countryman, a parody of Reality TV
Exotica Music

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark talks to Count Fosco about the Film Blast From The Past

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Count Isidor Fosco about the Film Blast From The Past(1999) starring Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone.

Topics:

The plot summery; Adam Webber(Brendan Fraser) comes out from a nuclear fallout shelter after 35 years
The culture shock when Adam emerges in the 90’s and thinks he is in a zombie overrun dystopia
Adam’s father scientist Dr. Calvin Webber(Christopher Walken) who builds the fallout shelter
The stereotype of a 1950’s father vs. Calvin as a Utopian and idealist
The beginning of the film during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War Theme, and the cultural “nuclear war”
The “education” of Adam; his homeschooling makes him appear “aristocratic” to women
The bunker as an analogy for isolating one self from society and the pros and cons of doing so
How Adam manages to win the Psychosocial narrative by playing by his own rules
The concept of “Eternal Return” as it is shown at the end of the film
The trend of having nostalgia for past eras and the mid century aesthetic
Political agendas in film and conservatives uncreative critiques of Hollywood
The formulaic narrative of romantic comedies and how it works for the film
The comic element in the miscommunications and what makes good comedy
Brendan Fraser as a 90’s icon, his comic style, and his other films
The allure of Alicia Silverstone and how her character compares to her roles in films such as The CrushClueless, and The Babysitter
The Transformation of Alicia Silverstone’s character Eve
LA depicted in the film, the San Fernando Valley, and Pasadena
Pilleater on Tess Haubrich as Rosenthal in the new film Alien Covenant


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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!




Robert Stark talks to Brandon Adamson about his Compare and Contrast EP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Brandon Adamson about his new EP album Compare and Contrast. Brandon blogs at AltLeft.com and is the author of Beatnik Fascism. His music is available on Bandcamp and iTunes.

Topics:

Intro: Compare and Contrast
How Brandon got into making music in the mid 90s (weird early releases like Birthday Boy)
The meaning of songs on the EP, “Compare and Contrast”
How some lyrics were taken from poems in Beatnik Fascism
The song For a Sunny Day inspired by The Sunrays – I Live For The Sun
90’s Indy music and how the artsy indie music scene seems dead
Influences of 60’s mod bands and 90’s mod revival bands like Majestic
How Brandon never liked or could relate to the Beatles or Rolling Stones but mostly only obscure and forgotten bands from the 60’s
Minimalism in music
Brandon’s interest in the 60’s mod style in music and design
Brandon’s album cover designs and inspiration from 70’s advertisements
Majestic’s Live It Up! album cover design
Songs inspired by 80’s cartoons and commercials
80’s Mall culture, DeadMallsThe demolition of the Metro Center Mall in Phoenix, and Brandon’s interest in the Logan’s Run aesthetic
Beatnik Fascism by Brandon Adamson (review by Pilleater)
Outro: Something Fun a Trampoline

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings!