COVER STORY  |  IN THE NEWS   |  OFF THE PAVEMENT  POEM  |  IN REVIEW  |  GARLICK'S NOTEBOOK  |  MOVIES TALK OF THE TABLE  |  THE HUM  |  CALENDAR October 25, 2007 The End of America | Halo 3 | Shine The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot By Naomi Wolf Chelsea Green Publishing World-renowned feminist and best-selling author of the landmark The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf is back with The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, a brief, 155-page look at the historical patterns found in all dictatorial regimes. Extensively footnoted, this book draws out astounding parallels between Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Pinochet and more. Laid against the backdrop of 21st century America, Wolf shows those currently in power have followed the playbook closely. Wolf refers to “historical echoes” when describing such recurrent totalitarian manifestations as: secret prisons, mercenary or paramilitary forces, surveillance of ordinary citizens and infiltration of their organizations, restrictions on the press and speech in general, arbitrary detainment and release of citizens, evocation of a constant internal and external threat, allegations of espionage and treason at critics and dissenters and subversion of the rule of law. This book is very much the warning the subtitle promises. The introduction of such authoritarian practices typically occurs gradually, and in a similar sequence. Wolf calls this the “fascist shift” and describes tell-tale signs that an open democratic society is being closed down. In other words, you know your government’s gone fascist when ... Many in Humboldt know we’re already there. The End of America provides great context for helping evolve the thinking of un-like-minded neighbors. Thomas Paine, author of the seminal American revolutionary pamphlet Common Sense, wrote that not everyone will recognize the need for revolution simultaneously. There have to be people who get it first and then help others to see. For those who already understand, Wolf offers compelling if not exhaustive material ideal for reframing understanding of the changes our country has undertaken, in our name and without our consent. For the folks at the other end of the spectrum, the ones who think this premise is exaggerated and inapplicable to present-day America, there is precedent for this. Another echo Wolf traces is the intentionally blurred definition of truth and reality. Fascist governments work hard at perception management, influencing or controlling media, propagandizing, adopting laws that do the opposite what they purport to do. This is never expected to create uniform belief but to disorient and confuse, divisively inhibiting resistance. What Wolf offers the doubters is a calm and rational assessment of well researched facts and anecdotes, with sources for confirmation. The book is a warning, and Wolf’s concern comes through genuine and true without being shrill or off-putting to readers perhaps still struggling to admit the extent of America’s fascist shift. The hope she conveys is that it is not too late and Americans can come together to restore the Constitution, the rule of law and the freedoms and liberties envisioned by the Founders. — Dave Berman, local activist Halo 3 Bungie/Microsoft I have a confession to make: I don’t like first-person shooters. Most of the ones I’ve played share the following objective: “Shoot the marines-aliens-terrorists-mutants and escape from the bunker—prison—top-secret facility—warehouse full of crates.” I find this a bit boring. I therefore believe myself uniquely suited to hack my way through the dense jungle of Microsoft-sponsored hype with a flaming machete. Lest you discount the following as being biased, I’ve gotten my FPS-playing friend Glenn Song to cover me and augment my experience with his. In the Bungie-developed “Halo 3” you play a futuristic marine named Master Chief whose mission is to destroy worlds reminiscent of Larry Niven’s Ringworld. Why? These worlds are the key to setting a killer parasite loose on the universe. I’m down with anything that showcases killer parasites. Humanity is working against an alliance of religious-zealot aliens called the Covenant. “Halo 3” avoids reducing the story to cliché by maintaining a linear plot but keeping narrative revelations relevant so that they don’t interrupt game play, and by allowing free play over small areas. The graphics are stunningly good. Even the crates are well textured. The environments are amazingly lush and realistic. The soundtrack is very well done as well, although I think it sometimes borders on melodramatic. Both Song and I had big problems with the user interface of the game. It took me several minutes just to figure out which buttons to click to start a single-player game, and it took even longer to figure out how to play a level cooperatively with another player. The menus are all nondescript and not really labeled intuitively. Several times while playing, I felt like throwing the controller in disgust and making this review. Really. Short. That’s because I couldn’t target any of the small, fast-moving enemies. Almost all console shooters are like this, but most console games also have a feature that allows you to lock onto your target. “Halo 3” does not. The levels sometimes seem rather lazily designed. The mission on the second level involves going from point A to point B and then back to point A again. It’s monotonous on one level, but subsequent levels also seem to have a lot of backtracking. Multiplayer is where “Halo 3” really shines. There are a variety of minigames along with the traditional body-count competitions, and the games are populated with 11-year-olds up way past their bedtimes. The variety of exotic weapons and complicated terrains makes for pure, exciting mayhem. As soon as I signed into a game, some kid asked, “Hey, are you really a girl?” I would like to say I beat the snot out of the little whippersnapper, but the reality is that I got killed in the first 30 seconds. Then I got respawned and chased a guy named Tastyporkchop around with a gun that shoots needles. — Kea Johnston, a Bay Area videogame reviewer Shine By Joni Mitchell Hear Music Over the last few years, the successful comebacks of rock icons have become old hat. Dylan, McCartney, Simon and Waits are just a few that have showered us with unexpected brilliance. And when these career resurgences are positioned as anything more than a well-executed money grab, it seems a tad inauthentic. So when Joni Mitchell writes in the liner notes of her new album, “I stepped outside of my little house and stood barefoot on a rock ... that night the piano beckoned for the first time in 10 years,” it sounds like total hogwash: She made the album because she’s sick of living in a little house. Right? Perhaps the biggest compliment you can give to Shine is that it makes you believe that a piano did actually beckon to its creator. While it lacks the versatility of recent gems by those aforementioned seniors, the album sounds like something that had to be made. Musically, Shine rarely registers louder than a whisper, but it has a sense of urgency to it that few artists can create, young or old. Although Shine includes an updated version of Joni’s signature folk anthem “Big Yellow Taxi,” its moods and textures are closer to her softer, jazz-infused records of the mid- to late-1970s. Hooks give way to subtlety, and melodies succumb to atmospheres. She’s mainly a piano player here; almost every tune is anchored by her warm, balladic chord structures. And yes, her voice is not what it once was, but she has embraced her huskier tone to the great benefit of these songs. Their narrators are not exuberant, wide-eyed youths, but older folks wondering what the hell happened to the world. These rich sonic backdrops set the stage for some of the most stunning, volatile statements of Joni’s career. “Holy Earth/How can we heal you?/We cover you like a blight,” she sings, on “If I Had A Heart.” “Bad Dreams” lambastes the “out of sight out of mind” mentality we have towards environmental and political atrocities. “Big Yellow Taxi (2007)” is less adorable and even more sarcastic than the original, its catchy accordion riff notwithstanding. But as starkly depressing as Shine tends to be, there’s a reason for its title. Where Mitchell’s piano sounds like the voice of a somber realist, alto sax player Bob Sheppard symbolizes an undercurrent of hope. He lends beautiful, birdcall accents to “Hana,” “This Place” and the instrumental opening cut “One Week Last Summer.” At the end of the day, Mitchell has faith not in mankind or God, but in nature herself. When she sings, “Spirit of the water/Give us all the courage and the grace/To make genius of this tragedy unfolding/The genius to save this place,” she’s not trying to single-handedly stop global warming or save a pile of sea turtles. She’s merely answering the call of that beckoning instrument. Leonardo DiCaprio’s charity work may get him spreads in Vanity Fair, but the only way an artist ever makes a difference is by creating art. Joni Mitchell has created a gentle heart song to Mother Nature and a fiery condemnation of war, greed and our willful ignorance of both. Shine is the sound of a master songwriter’s righteous indignation, and, Christ, is it beautiful. — Joe Sweeney, a writer for Artvoice (Buffalo, N.Y.)   COVER STORY  |  IN THE NEWS   |  OFF THE PAVEMENT  POEM  |  IN REVIEW  |  GARLICK'S NOTEBOOK  |  MOVIES TALK OF THE TABLE  |  THE HUM  |  CALENDAR Comments? Write a letter! © Copyright 2007, North Coast Journal, Inc.

COVER STORY  |  IN THE NEWS   |  OFF THE PAVEMENT  POEM  |  IN REVIEW  |  GARLICK'S NOTEBOOK  |  MOVIES TALK OF THE TABLE  |  THE HUM  |  CALENDAR October 25, 2007 The End of America | Halo 3 | Shine The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot By Naomi Wolf Chelsea Green Publishing World-renowned feminist and best-selling author of the landmark The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf is back with The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, a brief, 155-page look at the historical patterns found in all dictatorial regimes. Extensively footnoted, this book draws out astounding parallels between Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Pinochet and more. Laid against the backdrop of 21st century America, Wolf shows those currently in power have followed the playbook closely. Wolf refers to “historical echoes” when describing such recurrent totalitarian manifestations as: secret prisons, mercenary or paramilitary forces, surveillance of ordinary citizens and infiltration of their organizations, restrictions on the press and speech in general, arbitrary detainment and release of citizens, evocation of a constant internal and external threat, allegations of espionage and treason at critics and dissenters and subversion of the rule of law. This book is very much the warning the subtitle promises. The introduction of such authoritarian practices typically occurs gradually, and in a similar sequence. Wolf calls this the “fascist shift” and describes tell-tale signs that an open democratic society is being closed down. In other words, you know your government’s gone fascist when ... Many in Humboldt know we’re already there. The End of America provides great context for helping evolve the thinking of un-like-minded neighbors. Thomas Paine, author of the seminal American revolutionary pamphlet Common Sense, wrote that not everyone will recognize the need for revolution simultaneously. There have to be people who get it first and then help others to see. For those who already understand, Wolf offers compelling if not exhaustive material ideal for reframing understanding of the changes our country has undertaken, in our name and without our consent. For the folks at the other end of the spectrum, the ones who think this premise is exaggerated and inapplicable to present-day America, there is precedent for this. Another echo Wolf traces is the intentionally blurred definition of truth and reality. Fascist governments work hard at perception management, influencing or controlling media, propagandizing, adopting laws that do the opposite what they purport to do. This is never expected to create uniform belief but to disorient and confuse, divisively inhibiting resistance. What Wolf offers the doubters is a calm and rational assessment of well researched facts and anecdotes, with sources for confirmation. The book is a warning, and Wolf’s concern comes through genuine and true without being shrill or off-putting to readers perhaps still struggling to admit the extent of America’s fascist shift. The hope she conveys is that it is not too late and Americans can come together to restore the Constitution, the rule of law and the freedoms and liberties envisioned by the Founders. — Dave Berman, local activist Halo 3 Bungie/Microsoft I have a confession to make: I don’t like first-person shooters. Most of the ones I’ve played share the following objective: “Shoot the marines-aliens-terrorists-mutants and escape from the bunker—prison—top-secret facility—warehouse full of crates.” I find this a bit boring. I therefore believe myself uniquely suited to hack my way through the dense jungle of Microsoft-sponsored hype with a flaming machete. Lest you discount the following as being biased, I’ve gotten my FPS-playing friend Glenn Song to cover me and augment my experience with his. In the Bungie-developed “Halo 3” you play a futuristic marine named Master Chief whose mission is to destroy worlds reminiscent of Larry Niven’s Ringworld. Why? These worlds are the key to setting a killer parasite loose on the universe. I’m down with anything that showcases killer parasites. Humanity is working against an alliance of religious-zealot aliens called the Covenant. “Halo 3” avoids reducing the story to cliché by maintaining a linear plot but keeping narrative revelations relevant so that they don’t interrupt game play, and by allowing free play over small areas. The graphics are stunningly good. Even the crates are well textured. The environments are amazingly lush and realistic. The soundtrack is very well done as well, although I think it sometimes borders on melodramatic. Both Song and I had big problems with the user interface of the game. It took me several minutes just to figure out which buttons to click to start a single-player game, and it took even longer to figure out how to play a level cooperatively with another player. The menus are all nondescript and not really labeled intuitively. Several times while playing, I felt like throwing the controller in disgust and making this review. Really. Short. That’s because I couldn’t target any of the small, fast-moving enemies. Almost all console shooters are like this, but most console games also have a feature that allows you to lock onto your target. “Halo 3” does not. The levels sometimes seem rather lazily designed. The mission on the second level involves going from point A to point B and then back to point A again. It’s monotonous on one level, but subsequent levels also seem to have a lot of backtracking. Multiplayer is where “Halo 3” really shines. There are a variety of minigames along with the traditional body-count competitions, and the games are populated with 11-year-olds up way past their bedtimes. The variety of exotic weapons and complicated terrains makes for pure, exciting mayhem. As soon as I signed into a game, some kid asked, “Hey, are you really a girl?” I would like to say I beat the snot out of the little whippersnapper, but the reality is that I got killed in the first 30 seconds. Then I got respawned and chased a guy named Tastyporkchop around with a gun that shoots needles. — Kea Johnston, a Bay Area videogame reviewer Shine By Joni Mitchell Hear Music Over the last few years, the successful comebacks of rock icons have become old hat. Dylan, McCartney, Simon and Waits are just a few that have showered us with unexpected brilliance. And when these career resurgences are positioned as anything more than a well-executed money grab, it seems a tad inauthentic. So when Joni Mitchell writes in the liner notes of her new album, “I stepped outside of my little house and stood barefoot on a rock ... that night the piano beckoned for the first time in 10 years,” it sounds like total hogwash: She made the album because she’s sick of living in a little house. Right? Perhaps the biggest compliment you can give to Shine is that it makes you believe that a piano did actually beckon to its creator. While it lacks the versatility of recent gems by those aforementioned seniors, the album sounds like something that had to be made. Musically, Shine rarely registers louder than a whisper, but it has a sense of urgency to it that few artists can create, young or old. Although Shine includes an updated version of Joni’s signature folk anthem “Big Yellow Taxi,” its moods and textures are closer to her softer, jazz-infused records of the mid- to late-1970s. Hooks give way to subtlety, and melodies succumb to atmospheres. She’s mainly a piano player here; almost every tune is anchored by her warm, balladic chord structures. And yes, her voice is not what it once was, but she has embraced her huskier tone to the great benefit of these songs. Their narrators are not exuberant, wide-eyed youths, but older folks wondering what the hell happened to the world. These rich sonic backdrops set the stage for some of the most stunning, volatile statements of Joni’s career. “Holy Earth/How can we heal you?/We cover you like a blight,” she sings, on “If I Had A Heart.” “Bad Dreams” lambastes the “out of sight out of mind” mentality we have towards environmental and political atrocities. “Big Yellow Taxi (2007)” is less adorable and even more sarcastic than the original, its catchy accordion riff notwithstanding. But as starkly depressing as Shine tends to be, there’s a reason for its title. Where Mitchell’s piano sounds like the voice of a somber realist, alto sax player Bob Sheppard symbolizes an undercurrent of hope. He lends beautiful, birdcall accents to “Hana,” “This Place” and the instrumental opening cut “One Week Last Summer.” At the end of the day, Mitchell has faith not in mankind or God, but in nature herself. When she sings, “Spirit of the water/Give us all the courage and the grace/To make genius of this tragedy unfolding/The genius to save this place,” she’s not trying to single-handedly stop global warming or save a pile of sea turtles. She’s merely answering the call of that beckoning instrument. Leonardo DiCaprio’s charity work may get him spreads in Vanity Fair, but the only way an artist ever makes a difference is by creating art. Joni Mitchell has created a gentle heart song to Mother Nature and a fiery condemnation of war, greed and our willful ignorance of both. Shine is the sound of a master songwriter’s righteous indignation, and, Christ, is it beautiful. — Joe Sweeney, a writer for Artvoice (Buffalo, N.Y.)   COVER STORY  |  IN THE NEWS   |  OFF THE PAVEMENT  POEM  |  IN REVIEW  |  GARLICK'S NOTEBOOK  |  MOVIES TALK OF THE TABLE  |  THE HUM  |  CALENDAR Comments? Write a letter! © Copyright 2007, North Coast Journal, Inc.