To create a unique atmosphere for his Gotham City, Timm’s team drew all of Gotham on black paper. Traditionally, animators use white, allowing for light to flourish somewhat naturally. That Mr. Timm and company tried, for the first time, black paper was revolutionary in terms of technology and art, but also quite successful. Even the cleanest corners of Gotham possess a brooding darkness, perfect for the entrance of a Dark Knight.“There was an architectural visionary named Hugh Ferris, who did these elaborate, futuristic cityscape architectural renderings,” Mr. Timm explains. “They were just gorgeous—these massive deco buildings rendered very moodily. That was one of our prime influences on the look of Batman: The Animated Series.“[9] One of the most innovative things the Batman: The Animated Series did, in its first feature animated movie, The Mask of the Phantasm, was an opening, computer generated at the very beginning of the use of CGI in any film, of a camera slowly making its way in reverse through the Gotham skyline as the magisterial music of the tragically unsung but brilliant composer Shirley Walker plays.[10] Walker’s soundtrack employs music from the late classical to early romantic period while incorporating faux medieval chant. As bizarre as this combination sounds, it works beautifully, especially as the camera crosses the Gotham City skyline.[11] Nothing in the comics or the movies made, before or after, has done so much to demonstrate the sheer and inhumane scope and scale of Gotham.
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/05/americas-urban-nightmare-gotham-city-bradley-birzer.html
Category Archives: Philosophy
The Dynamic Duo: The Controversy Over Batman’s Creators ~ The Imaginative Conservative
While there is no excuse for Kane having lied in his 1965 open letter or for having fudged the truth in his 1989 autobiography, there is some defense of his using his name exclusively when dealing with Batman in publications. Sadly, such a muddled state of recognizing who created who and what was a central feature of the earliest comic superheroes. In a world of pseudonyms, artistic entrepreneurship, and personal studios, one person might well serve as the public name for three or four others. And, one person might even write under a variety of names, thus keeping interest in his work intense rather than overwhelming. Writers trying to make a career in New York City were legion because of the intense competition in the pulps as well as in the slicks (magazines), while good artists were relatively rare. New York, of course, housed innumerable fine artists and an equally uncountable number of commercial artists, but comics demanded artists who not only understood the limits and physics of the human (and extra-human) form, but who could produce a huge quantity of art with relatively acceptable and consistent quality. The same was even more true of editors, who more often than not served as vital figures in the creation and maintenance of publications. During the 1930s, strong editors made, thwarted, and broke writing careers. When Superman appeared, pulp editors were in a strong position, writers in a weak one, and artists in a new and precarious one.[23] While in a relatively good position to capitalize on the new super-hero comics market, pulp publishers, editors, and writers still had to create and then navigate the new market, one that demanded consistency.
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/04/dynamic-duo-controversy-over-batmans-creators-bradley-birzer.html
Father Aidan Nichols Signs Open Letter Charging Pope Francis With Heresy
The present Open letter to the bishops of the Catholic Church goes a stage further in claiming that Pope Francis is guilty of the crime of heresy. This crime is committed when a Catholic knowingly and persistently denies something which he knows that the Church teaches to be revealed by God. Taken together, the words and actions of Pope Francis amount to a comprehensive rejection of Catholic teaching on marriage and sexual activity, on the moral law, and on grace and the forgiveness of sins.
— Read on www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/father-aidan-nichols-signs-open-letter-charging-pope-francis-with-heresy
Gilbert highet’s classical tradition
Not a Democracy ~ The Imaginative Conservative
How often has one read or watched the news, only to be told that America, as the leading democratic power, must do this or that because it is in the interest of all free peoples to promote democracy? Democracy has become so overused as to become a synonym for all that is good in the world, especially identified as rainbow-headed unicorns with the wings of a Pegasus, flying unhesitatingly from imagined world to imagined world, the latest one progressing ever more and more toward all that is holy. Democracy, it seems, is freedom, goodness, truth, dignity, and beauty.
This is the absurdity that now surrounds us. Honestly, the unicorns would be preferable. One only has to watch the tumultuous and tenebrous storms of emotion that brew and blow on Twitter to see how well the democratic impulse tends toward goodness.
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/04/not-democracy-bradley-birzer.html
Identity Crisis
So, was on a ferry the other day, and ran into that quintessential Harley Davidson motorcyclist. On a bagger with half helmet, wearing Harley Davidson boots and jacket with that round emblem on the back, most probably wider than Captain America’s shield. Of course, he had ridden cross-country to Sturgis, among the bigger motorcycle gatherings on the planet. Absolutely a cheerful guy to speak with, but also signaling an unmistakable identity, something no one can overlook.
Not just in motorcycling, adopting identities wholesale seems like a human trait. Whether its politics, art, culture, or even technology, we seek to belong. We signal identity not just through clothing, but through gadgets, accessories and through expressed opinions. Especially in politics, we probably state beliefs to just convey who we are, not because we believe they are absolute truths.
We become a liberal, conservative or libertarian not through expansive research, but through instincts. We pick where we want to belong, and then adopt ideas wholesale. In fact, any real research would evolve our own thought, making it difficult for us to fit in. Seems like more than the truth, we seek that identity. Not to mention, all these political factions tend to have quite a bit of infighting, on who is the true torch bearer, probably because we simply cannot allow that group identity to get corrupted.
Not just in politics, identity is an essential driving force in all our pursuits. If we examine with that lens, then all contentious social convulsions are related to identity, even the trivial ones. Recently came across this band Deafheaven, seems like they trigger an identity crisis among black metallers, especially the ones living on Reddit. The band simply borrowed all black metal influences, but none of their aesthetics. Sounds like black metal, but does not exactly reflect the artistic inspirations. Essentially corrupting a pristine identity, and wreaking havoc in a true black metaller’s peaceful existence.
Seems like the world is constantly in this disruptive state, plunging from one crisis of identity to another, and each such crisis spawning new identities. Whether it’s ‘true Norwegian Black Metal’, or capital (L)ibertarian v/s small (l)ibertarian, or obscurities like democratic socialist liberal or MAGA conservative? But this identity crisis is also an essential pillar in Federalism, Madison eloquently stated — “the society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority.” In that sense, so glad we don’t simply get along.
Russell kirk lives
Did Political Parties Exist During the American Founding Era? ~ The Imaginative Conservative
Contrary to the vast majority of my fellow scholars of American history, I have never found the account of the creation of political parties in the Founding Era and Early Republic to be credible. I see very little evidence of anything that we would recognize as political parties before 1837… (essay by Bradley J. Birzer)
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/04/political-parties-american-founding-era-bradley-birzer.html
A SEVERE LACK OF CULTURAL LITERACY. cHRISTOPHER pLUMMER WHERE ARE YOU?
Group Code
Spring poses interesting opportunities, especially if you can manage to ride up to the mountains. Not every day you motorcycle through icy roads on a bright day, at near zero temperatures, and with a backdrop of snow covered mountains! Not to mention the occasional water stream, gently crossing the freeway, and a highway shoulder precariously stacked with freshly removed snow – guess this is why they call motorcycling as sensory overload? As usual, the fuel tank was also sort of running low; the two gallon tank has been a bit difficult to handle, especially when you go exploring. But, like every other time, when it was close to being empty, providence manifested in the form of a Shell gas station.
Group riding on this motorcycle is going to be a tad annoying, for others! You definitely don’t want to ride with someone who is constantly on the lookout for a gas station. In that sense, groups do pose different trade-offs. We all prefer different riding patterns, different frequency for stops, speeds, routes etc. But group cohesion mandates uniformity; unless you really enjoy the company this requirement of uniformity can be a tad stifling.
Not just in group riding, even in general life situations, we all have different and often contradicting preferences and views. So, unless there is a commonly enforced code, large groups of people will not easily get along. And unless this conformity code is overall in sync with our own preferences, we are simply not going to join and remain being part of such a group. We can actually see that conflict of code manifest in all social spheres. Whether it’s family gatherings or workplace or recreational, large groups of people tend to not get along without clearly enforced hierarchy or code. The probability of this conflict of code increases with time. Not surprising it’s hard even for ~50% of couples to stay together for a life time.
Along with that duration of time, another factor which increases possibility of conflict is intellectual refinement. More you think, more your mind diverges from the median. Any serious thought and reflection adds layers of cognition to your mind. These layers increases the possibility of our thought being different from others. When processing any complex situation, we’d simply see more or different aspects to the same problem, which makes our solutions also different. So, more we think, more the intellectual compromises we need to make to just fit in. If you have strong convictions, such compromises will be daunting. Hayek famously said “largest group of people whose values are very similar are the people with low standards”. In that sense, joining Hells Angels or some political party is not so different. Both signify low standards, the end of serious thought and reflection, but may be in slightly different ways.
Spirit of Cecilia 
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