Monday, December 17, 2007

Unarius Videos...

If you've read this blog for a while, you may remember the Unarians – a bizarre cult headquartered in El Cajon, and owning property near our home in Lawson Valley. We “discovered” them shortly after moving to Lawson Valley in 1999, when we sighted a car belonging to the cult. It's unmistakable: a large American sedan with a model flying saucer on top and a crazy lady inside.

Click here if you want to learn more about these fruit loops.

What prompted this post was my discovery of this blog post with lots of Unarius videos (one example is below). This blogger is as amused and incredulous about the Unarians as I am. Watch the Unarian videos with this understanding: there are real people, walking amongst us unrestrained, who study these videos (and other materials distributed by the Unarians). They believe the messages in them.

I don't know about you, but to me, that's scary!

Iraq Movies...

Several movies about Iraq have recently been released: Lions for Lambs, Redacted, and The War. All of them have a distinctly anti-war message. All of them have been flops at the box office.

Meanwhile, modern technology has let troops in combat take their own movies and photos, and post them on the Internet for all to see. Some of this footage has been professionally edited and produced, but much is raw amateur stuff. Some of these have become amongst the most popular video clips on YouTube – the number of views of most of these is hundreds or thousands of times higher than the viewings of the aforementioned Hollywood movies. Some examples (with links to others) here, here, here, and below.

Isn't it interesting that those movies with the anti-war message – all major Hollywood productions, with major stars, heavy marketing, and big-name directors and producers – are all losers in the market? And that the nitty-gritty, real-life combat videos are a smash hit?

What got me going on this topic was reading a note about how the Democratic campaigns are hearing – to their apparent surprise – that American voters are not the anti-war crowd that they assumed. And the campaigns are adjusting their messaging and tactics.

Interesting. I'm just saying.