Wednesday, February 8, 2012

GENERATION P: An Interview with Director Victor Ginzburg

<em>Generation P</em>
Courtesy Photo
Generation P

Generation P

An Interview with Director Victor Ginzburg

Friday, January 27, 2012


his year’s most stoner-friendly film during SBIFF is surely Generation P, which involves trips on both fly agaric mushrooms and LSD for our protagonist as he navigates the early days of post-Soviet Russia working in advertising man and caught up in a Babylonian cult that runs the world through media manipulation. It’s got lots of hilarity and trippy visuals wrapped up in symbolism and social commentary, plenty to chew on for even the most sober of us.
Director Victor Ginzburg recently answered a few of my questions via email.

There seems to be a wave of films coming out of Russia about the transition from the Soviet era. Does that mean that enough time has passed for filmmakers to reflect with some meaning on that time period?
There’s definitely a civil reawakening going on in Russian society today, and a certain re-evaluation of the past, but I don’t think the same thing is happening in Russian film (excluding documentary). Russian cinema hasn’t really dealt with the revolutionary period of the ‘90s, and the Putin era in any meaningful way. It doesn’t deal with political issues. The Russian film industry hasn’t produced any real sharp anti-government satire or political films since the ‘90s.
Filmmaking in Russia today is split between thre genres: Festival genre, the brooding, dark, and slow pseudo-Tarkovsky product for Euro festival elite, that don’t get released in Russia, because Russian viewers don’t want to see these films; imitation Hollywood B-movies; and “patriotic films” which are either period war epics or Special Ops films. All of the above are financed by the government and TV networks. There’s no foul language or politics, due to “self-censorship”, born out of fear of not getting the next project financed. It’s all toothless.

Generation P was a huge game changer in that sense. There was real fear on the part of my distributor and investors that Gen P will not be granted the “distribution license” due to foul language and politics, including a scene with “banned” oligarch Berezovsky, and the scene of the creation of Putin-like virtual president, and his virtual inauguration in Kremlin, where I used real footage of Putin’s inauguration.

But after four years in stop-and-go independent production, and lots of press, the buzz was so strong, and Facebook and Yandex (Russia biggest search engine) becoming our partners in the Russian release, nobody could stop us. So I believe Gen P is the only contemporary Russian film to meaningfully reflect on the ‘90s, and I’m happy to have helped to fill that vacuum.

Was the process of converting this book into a film difficult?
This is a story without a classic plot structure, there’s no conflict or a love interest or a bag full of money that we’re chasing. But that’s exactly what I liked about this story. It’s driven first and foremost by ideas and energy, and the suspense comes from punchy dialog and amazing characters. There was a lot of interior monologue and thought process in the novel, that had to be radically re-conceptualized, as well as the entire Babylonian storyline and the hallucination sequences.

Also, a lot of Pelevin’s dialog was so great, that I couldn’t get the script below 220 pages, as opposed to standard 120. My co-writer Djina helped my tremendously as we were rewriting it constantly on the set, looking for the balance in the story. I shot a lot of extra footage, as opposed to cutting out the pages. It was a calculated expense. You could say that the final draft was “written” in the editing room, where the film found its current pace, and I finally have a 120 page script.

I imagine that advertising was a pretty wide open business with the fall of communism. Is this based on personal experience, or on the experience of others who were in advertising?
Russian advertising was wild and crazy in the ‘90s, free of any rules of aesthetics, history, or regulations. It ranged from terrible to brilliant. Advertising serves a symbolic role in the film. It’s like an interface through which Babylen starts to see the new world. This matrix evolves right in front of our eyes and becomes the virtual world that we live in today.

Drugs are obviously a big part of the film. Was there a boom in psychedelics and cocaine with the fall of communism? How about fly agarics? Are those consumed by in contemporary Russian culture?
Historically, Russians prefer to hallucinate on vodka. LSD and hallucinogenic culture, such as Castaneda literature, arrived in Russia with the end of the Soviet Union, along with the branding and consumerism. For Babylen Tatarsky, it’s gateway to Ishtar, the goddess of these new values. It is also a way to enhance his creativity, but once there, he discovers new revelations about himself and the world.

So in way, LSD serves a spiritual purpose to Babylen’s search for meaning and self understanding, just like it would be for any young person in today’s complex world.

On а more strategic level, for the purpose of telling this story, drug-induced hallucinations serve to introduce the viewer to the concept of the alternative reality that we arrive at towards the end of the film, the virtual world of politics and branding, where you’re led to believe that a politician is more than a TV show or that a given product can bring you happiness.

What’s your fascination with Babylonian mythology?
We worship the same gods of glamour, money, and blood.

The idea of supercontrol of politics doesn’t seem too far from the truth, whether in Putin’s Russia or the corporate world’s America. Do you see films like yours calling attention to that, or is this just an absurd exercise in a fun movie?
I really hope that the film works on a few levels: as a fun ride with a real belly laugh, as biting political satire, and a philosophical tale about the contemporary world. There’s a wide audience out there of smart and interested people that can really dig this.

Generation P screens on Friday, January 27, 7:20 p.m., at the Metro 4 and again on Wednesday, February 1, 10:20 p.m., at the Metro 4, and Saturday, February 4, 1:20 p.m. at the Metro 4.

http://www.independent.com/news/2012/jan/27/generation-p/

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Bioluminescence and Sensibility (Glowing Flying Agaricus Jellyfish)

HI, I would like to jump off here, and launch into a new hypothesis based upon my own research into bioluminescense, mycology and species symbiosis. The question is somewhat posed, and an answer already hinted at: that the glowing shrooms do so to possibly attract critters that like to eat insects, insects that would otherwise eat them; such as flies, beetles, ants etc. Here's the full quote:

"Yet the reason why mushrooms glow has not come to light. One hypothesis is this attracts insects and aids spore dispersal. However, in jack o’lanterns, the foxfire comes from the mycelium or root-like network that gathers food for the fungus.

"We have no idea yet why this happens," said Desjardin. "Maybe the mycelium is glowing to attract the enemy of these insects, and will eat them before they can eat the mycelium. But we don’t have any data to support this."

Desjardin has studied bioluminescent fungi from all over the world to determine why and how this happens, and whether it is the same chemical phenomenon occurring in each species."

The reason why mushrooms glow? well to communicate seems one sensible and very general reason. But, communicate what, and why. (the same chemical phenomena, Yes, I say Yes, the same, with a common, extra-terrestrial origin, maybe, who knows?)

Here I am, if you have eyes to see, generally sums up the glowing activity, for humans however, in 2012 ,the message from glowing mushrooms maybe interpreted to be more profound, more meaningful than simply saying 'Here I am', I think.

Maybe the mushrooms helps us remember the saying from Scotus Eriugena 'All things that are, are lights', also the title of a book by Robert Shea, co-author of Illuminatus Trilogy with Robert Anton Wilson.

Maybe the discovery of 'Luciferin' in Fungi from around the world, joining fungus with other glow in the dark' earth based life-forms like 'fireflies' 'jellyfish' 'anglerfish' 'Arctic Krill' 'squid' and many species of plankton and...here's the list from wiki:

Terrestrial organisms

Animals:
Fungi:

[edit] Fish

[edit] Marine invertebrates

[edit] Microorganisms




Above: FOXFIRE (FIREFOX?)


So, to be bold, maybe the mushrooms glow and the fish and insects glow as a way to show how a special chain of evolution can teach us a lot about species symbiosis.

Micro-organisms, land fungus, insects, fish, must have some evolutionary chronology, how did bioluminesence pass from species to species and in what order? I wonder. Maybe in the planets long past, bioluminescense was more wide spread, and stronger in its effect?


Maybe 'Luciferin' the active ingrediant in Bioluminescense that makes stuff 'glow' will be found to have extra-terrestrial origins, and add moe evidence to the theories of 'panspermia' and the idea that life on earth was seeded from somewhere else outside the current biosphere, and futhermore that most probably this seeding was done by way of 'spores' travelling on meteorites? who knows, what are some of the other alternatives? Adam and Eve? Darwin's natural selection and evolution based upon the survival of the fittest? there are many more, I just wish to suggest that the recurring, unanswered question of the origins of DNA based life on this planet have a pretty good answer, to my mind, in the 'panspermia' model created by Sir Francis Crick and modified by the likes of Terence Mckenna, Paul Stamets and others.

The glowing mushrooms and the other bioluminescent species want to tell us that 'light' is very important, maybe we can somehow learn how to change from A FOSSIL FUEL AND CARBON BASED WORLD ILLUMINATION SYSTEM TO A BIO-CHEMICAL SYSTEM BY UTILIZING THE POWER OF BIOLUMINESCENCE CUTTING THE GLOBAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION MASSIVELY.

Why, this stuff even looks like Krytonite to major energy companies or lighting businesses. Natural organic light, free and glowing all day and all night if you want it!

HERE'S THE FULL ARTICLE:

Love and peas, fly agaric 23

 

Bioluminescent Brazilian Mushroom Shines Like a Night Light


Epoch Times Staff
Created: July 6, 2011 Last Updated: July 6, 2011
Related articles: Science » Inspiring Discoveries
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Neonothopanus gardneri shines brightly enough to read a book by. (Cassius V. Stevani/IQ-USP, Brazil)
Neonothopanus gardneri shines brightly enough to read a book by. (Cassius V. Stevani/IQ-USP, Brazil)


A forgotten fungus found in 1840 has been reclassified and its glowing properties studied to understand how and why it shines brightly enough to read a book by.
In 1840, renowned English botanist George Gardner discovered the fungus over 170 years ago when he saw children playing with the glowing object, which they called “flor-de-coco.” Gardner sent a sample to England’s Kew Herbarium and it was classified as Agaricus gardneri.
The mushroom is bioluminescent, ie it produces a glowing light, like fireflies and some jellyfish. This phenomenon is also known as “foxfire” and is seen in some other fungi like jack o’lantern mushrooms.
However, what makes these fungi glow, and why, are questions that present-day researchers want to answer.

To find new specimens of the fungus, Dennis Desjardin at San Francisco State University and Cassius Stevani at the University of Sao Paulo went hunting in Brazilian forests. They had to "go out on new moon nights and stumble around in the forest, running into trees," said Desjardin in a press release.

Using digital cameras, the scientists took photos of potentially biolumiscent fungi to check the images for any glow invisible to the naked eye, and located new specimens of the forgotten mushroom.
After examining samples to determine the mushroom’s anatomy, physiology and genetics, they reclassified it as Neonothopanus gardneri.
The green glow of Neonothopanus gardneri found by researchers on new moon nights, stumbling around in the forest, running into trees in Brazil. (Cassius V. Stevani/IQ-USP, Brazil)
The green glow of Neonothopanus gardneri found by researchers on new moon nights, stumbling around in the forest, running into trees in Brazil. (Cassius V. Stevani/IQ-USP, Brazil)

The scientists have theorized that the mushroom bioluminesces like a firefly, using a mixture of luciferin and the enzyme luciferase to emit light via a reaction with oxygen and water. However, they have been unable to locate these compounds in the fungus.


"They glow 24 hours a day, as long as water and oxygen are available," said Desjardin. "But animals only produce this light in spurts. This tells us that the chemical that is acted upon by the enzyme in mushrooms has to be readily available and abundant."

Yet the reason why mushrooms glow has not come to light. One hypothesis is this attracts insects and aids spore dispersal. However, in jack o’lanterns, the foxfire comes from the mycelium or root-like network that gathers food for the fungus.

"We have no idea yet why this happens," said Desjardin. "Maybe the mycelium is glowing to attract the enemy of these insects, and will eat them before they can eat the mycelium. But we don’t have any data to support this."

Desjardin has studied bioluminescent fungi from all over the world to determine why and how this happens, and whether it is the same chemical phenomenon occurring in each species.

Friday, February 3, 2012

RAWIllumination.net: Fly Agaric on RAW sharing with his readers

RAWIllumination.net: Fly Agaric on RAW sharing with his readers: Steven Pratt aka Fly Agaric announced his new piece on Robert Anton Wilson as an "article" for his Twitter followers, which of course inc...