Viewing: Superheroes - View all posts
GIRLS
PARABLE OF THE TWO BILLIES
“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place,
but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid
the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”
~Benjamin Franklin
A HEROIC WORLD
"A hero cannot be a hero unless in a heroic world."
~Nathaniel Hawthorne
HEROIC + HOMOPHONIC
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY ~ Captain America on Free Speech
THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE
On this day in 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived in the New York Harbor, a gift from the people of France, designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi.
The statue became a symbol of hope, welcoming immigrants to the USA.
On her pedestal is inscribed "The New Colossus" by American poet Emma Lazarus:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
It's interesting to contemplate this sonnet today.
Here in Anglozona, where I make my home, immigration remains a divisive and hotly debated issue as we approach the centennial of our statehood.
The word "immigrant" carries a strong negative connotation around these parts. Apparently, we palefaces forget that we are the aliens. Our claim to this territory is quite recent, and dubious at best.
I don't know the Tohono O'odham or Apache name for the white man's arrival, but I don't believe we were "greeted as liberators."
I do know that the shameless land-grabs of northern Mexico, which our history books disguise with convenient euphemisms (treaty, purchase, Manifest Destiny), are referred to in Mexican texts as The North American Invasion.
Nevertheless, it's 2011, and here we are.
And there stands Lady Liberty, lifting her lamp, welcoming immigrants.
I'm celebrating her anniversary by seeing the movie Green Lantern, which opens today.
It seems fitting.
My favorite comic book from childhood, Green Lantern is an inspirational superhero space opera.
It tells the story of myriad aliens, coming together in teamwork and harmony, heroically using their creative imaginations, strength of will and light to overcome the evil, destructive power of fear.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM SUPERHEROES
Like many who grew up before the era of personal computers and video games, I spent countless hours in my youth reading the adventures of superheroes in comic books.
Here are 12 of my favorites and what I learned from each:
1. SUPERMAN — Rise to the occasion. Be courageous, respectful, honorable and selfless. Your strength comes more from your character than your talent. Remember that even the greatest of us has an achilles heel, and sometimes needs solitude. Usually, however, it's possible to hide in plain sight!
2. SPIDER-MAN — With great power comes great responsibility.
3. GREEN LANTERN — Your imagination and willpower are the only real limits to what you can create.
4. BATMAN — Childhood trauma can be a source of strength. Facing your fears can be transformative. And having the right equipment is half the battle.
5. X-MEN — Evolve! Celebrate diversity.
6. WONDER WOMAN — Strong women are sexy.
7. IRONMAN — Dress for success. Clothes make the man. There will be setbacks, but don't let your flaws define you. And innovate! A better version is always possible.
8. FANTASTIC FOUR — There is power in teamwork.
9. THE FLASH — Be the best at what you do.
10. THE HULK — Never judge a book by it's cover. You can't know what a man is capable of simply by looking at his appearance...especially what he might be capable of if he gets angry.
11. CAPTAIN AMERICA — Know your mission. Be willing to take a stand, even if it's unpopular.
12. THOR — Remember your birthright, but don't seek glory. If you do the job right, you'll get it anyway.
~DM
IMAGINATION + WILLPOWER
WHO DAT
"You trade in your reality for a role.
You give up your ability to feel,
and in exchange, put on a mask."
—Jim Morrison
"Boldness is a mask for fear, however great."
—John Dryden
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.
Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."
—Oscar Wilde
PLAN B ~ DM on Contingency
Given the current state of the economy,
I've decided that I should play music for a living
until I can find gainful employment as a superhero.
AWESOME.
RTFO RYAN
According to USA Today: "Reynolds, after some playful banter with fans, was asked by a young boy what it was like to recite the Green Lantern Oath. (For the uninitiated, it's: "In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, Beware my power — Green Lantern's Light!") Reynolds initially did not plan to recite the oath on stage, but was overcome by the boy's innocent question. Reynolds gave the oath as if he were summoning power, never taking his eyes off the child...and fans erupted."
ELEVEN MONTHS FROM TODAY...
...one of my favorite childhood heroes will be
brought to life on the silver screen!
That should keep the cinematic idol-worship jones sated
until 2013, when...
...AWESOME.
EVOLUTION
"It is not the strongest of the species,
nor the most intelligent, that survives.
It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."
~Charles Darwin
SAVE US!
IRON BABY
IN MY SOLITUDE
"I live in that solitude which is painful in youth,
but delicious in the years of maturity."
~Albert Einstein
"I never found a companion that was
so companionable as solitude."
~Henry David Thoreau
"It is not necessary that you leave the house.
Remain at your table and listen.
Do not even listen, only wait.
Do not even wait, be wholly still and alone.
The world will present itself to you for its unmasking . . .
in ecstasy it will writhe at your feet."
~Franz Kafka
"Solitude gives birth to the original in us."
~Thomas Mann
"Solitude is the salt of personhood.
It brings out the authentic flavor of every experience."
~May Sarton
"Talents are best nurtured in solitude:
character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world."
~Goethe
TO A DEAD MAN by Carl Sandburg
Over the dead line we have called to you
To come across with a word to us,
Some beaten whisper of what happens
Where you are over the dead line
Deaf to our calls and voiceless.
The flickering shadows have not answered
Nor your lips sent a signal
Whether love talks and roses grow
And the sun breaks at morning
Splattering the sea with crimson.
BECOME A HERO
"The noir hero is a knight in blood caked armor.
He's dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that
he's a hero the whole time. "
~Frank Miller
"No hero is mortal till he dies."
~W. H. Auden
"No man is a hero in his own country."
~John Monash
"One must think like a hero to behave
like a merely decent human being."
~May Sarton
"I think of a hero as someone who understands
the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom."
~Bob Dylan
"I think a hero is an ordinary individual
who finds strength to persevere and endure
in spite of overwhelming obstacles."
~Christopher Reeve
"And there is no trade or employment
but the man following it may become a hero."
~Walt Whitman
INSIDE TRACK
STEALTH ARMOR
NEVER ENDING BATTLE
YE-YE-YEAH, WOW !
KNOW THYSELF by Alexander Pope
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act or rest,
In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast,
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such
Whether he thinks too little or too much:
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused, or disabused;
Created half to rise and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!