Fun Marvel Hero Macy's Parade Clip!

 I enjoyed the following clip of a live-action performance of Marvel Super Heroes during a past Macy's Parade (Cheesy in a fun way - LOL!):

Stop what you're doing and watch the Marvel Universe float from the 1987 Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, set to the music from Back to the Future and also RoboCop is there?! pic.twitter.com/9tfcrZaWgI

— ComicBook.com (@ComicBook) November 27, 2025

But, of course, Spidey is the perennial top Super Hero of the Macy's Parade!

THWIP THWIP! 🕸️ Spider-Man swings through NYC at the #MacysParade to wish you an amazing Thanksgiving! pic.twitter.com/futudbXMfU

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) November 27, 2025

The Legendary Zod Latex Body Double

 

One of my favorite Trivia facts regarding the production of Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and Batman V Superman is that a replica latex head was made from Zod actor Michael Shannon and was attached to a latex body prop cast from the body of fitness model and actor Greg Plitt. In the clip from Batman V Superman below, you can see the use of the Zod body prop when Lex Luthor uses Kryptonian technology to create the monstrous Doomsday.

For those brief moments on screen, much care was taken to create a believable likeness to move the story along convincingly. Below is a video of the process and text from the process video notes:

For the blockbuster BATMAN VS SUPERMAN, Studio ADI created two ultra-realistic replicas of the deceased General Zod that would withstand close scrutiny by a camera lense. Fitness trainer Greg Plitt came to ADI for us to lifecast his body from the neck down while our colleague Barney Burman loaned us a headcast of actor Michael Shannon. Once the Shannon headcast was copied both the head and body were run in silicone with a polyfoam fill to make them solid.

Zod body silicone runs and seaming: Tony Matijevich, Brian Clawson, and Tim Leach. Hair: Denise Baer. Paint: Mike Larrabee. PLEASE NOTE: no photographs in this video represent REAL or ACTUAL deceased individuals (they are photos of previous replica work).

Before the release of the film, Greg Plitt passed away. This video is dedicated to his memory.

Incidentally, Zack Snyder had worked with Plitt previously. As stated on Greg Plitt's website:

“Warner Bros. cast Greg Plitt as body of Dr. Manhattan in this spring’s blockbuster film, ‘The Watchmen.’ Director, Zach Snyder, chose fitness model and actor Greg Plitt; the VFX crew took digitized Plitt in 3D and took high-definition video of the model against a grid with muscles relaxed, flexed and tensed. The crew then 3D-digitized Billy Crudup’s head and ‘frankensteined Billy’s head onto Greg’s body,’ ...”

More information & Links on Watchmen production notes for Dr. Manhattan.

👏 BTW-- Michael Shannon remains proud of his work in Man of Steel and the controversial scene where Superman kills General Zod, defending it as an important part of the film's narrative. 

Shannon recently addressed the scene, more than a decade after the film's release, and explained that director Zack Snyder deliberately put Superman in an impossible situation where he had no choice but to take a life to save innocent people. 

Key points from his recent comments:

• He is "proud" of the movie because he feels "it's actually about something," contrary to critics who dismissed it as just a typical blockbuster.

• He acknowledges the controversy, stating, "one of the controversies with this film ... is that Superman is not supposed to kill anybody," but defends the creative decision to force the hero into that difficult moral choice.

• He loved working with Zack Snyder and stands by the film's artistic vision. 
  
  
• The scene, where Superman snaps Zod's neck during their final battle to stop him from murdering a family with his heat vision, was a major point of debate among fans and critics, but Shannon views it as a necessary and significant moment for the character's journey. 

Six Sixty Six --A Song for Our Times

 

Larry Norman: In Another Land album, 1976

Six Sixty Six, by Larry Norman

In the midst of the war, he offered us peace. 

He came like a lover from out of the east with the face of an angel 

  and the heart of a beast. 

His intentions were 666.

 

He walked up to the temple with gold in his hand. And he bought off the priests

 

  and propositioned the land. 

And the world was his harlot and laid in the sand.

 

While the band played 666.

 

 

We served at his table and slept on the floor. 

But he starved us and beat us and nailed us to the door. 

Well, I'm ready to die. I can't take anymore. And I'm sick of his lies and

 

his tricks.

 

 

He told us he loved us, but that was a lie. 

There was blood in his pockets and death in his eyes. 

Well, my number is up and I'm willing to die. 

If the band will play

 

si- If the band will play

 

six-si- If the band will play 666.

 

 

Al & the Arts

 

Creating Thoughtfully in a Digital Age

Al Is Here!
Al is part of how we create music, stories, performances, and visual art, Let's explore it with curlosity and care!

New Creative Tools
Al can help us sketch, mix music, plan stage designs-and brainstorm ideas. Use it to explore-but don't let replace your vision.

What Makes It Original?
Al can imitate style, but only you bring real emotion, meaning, and experience. Make it yours.

Learn & Grow
Think about how you use Al. Does it support your story? Respect others? Express something true?

Be Wise, Be Kind
Again, think about how you use Al. Does it support your story? Respect others?

The Future Needs You
What's your dream art project? Could Al help bring it to life? How would you make sure it still feels like YOU?

Created in collaboration with ChatGPT

Peter Thiel vs. Elon Musk – How They Influence Democracy

 

Two of the most powerful people in technology today, Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, both have strong influence on American democracy. While they are both billionaires, the way they shape politics and culture is very different. Thiel works quietly behind the scenes in politics, while Musk is loud and visible in social media and business. Together, they show how wealthy individuals can affect the way democracy works.

Peter Thiel’s main influence comes from money and ideas. He has given millions of dollars to political candidates such as J.D. Vance and Blake Masters, who share his views. He also funds fellowships for young people with big ideas, hoping to shape the next generation of leaders. Thiel believes democracy has limits, and he prefers a system where powerful elites guide the future. His approach is about long-term change, focusing on who gets to make decisions and how the system is run.

Elon Musk, on the other hand, influences democracy through culture and communication. By owning Twitter, now called X, Musk controls one of the world’s biggest platforms for public debate. His choices about what voices are allowed and how “free speech” should work have direct effects on how people talk about politics. Musk also has power through his companies, like Tesla and SpaceX. For example, his Starlink satellites played an important role in Ukraine during the war, giving him influence over governments. 

The difference between Thiel and Musk can be seen as long-term versus short-term. Thiel wants to slowly reshape politics by supporting leaders and ideas that may last for decades. Musk, however, has the ability to change the conversation instantly with a single tweet or a business decision. Both forms of influence matter, but they work in very different ways.

Together, Thiel and Musk show how technology leaders can change democracy not only through politics, but also through culture and media. Thiel uses money and strategy to shape the future, while Musk uses communication and popularity to shape the present. Their power shows the new challenges democracies face in the modern world, where business leaders can sometimes hold as much influence as elected officials.

Article and illustrations created through prompts and interactions/editing by Chat GPT.

---

What's Up with Peter Thiel's Antichrist Lectures?

Billionaire Thiel, seen here in “regular guy” mode, hopes to
generate technocratic policy-shaping buzz with his Antichrist lectures.

Peter Thiel’s forthcoming series, The Antichrist, is positioned less as a devotional Bible study and more as an elite salon on religion, power, and technology. Hosted by the nonprofit ACTS 17 Collective at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, the four Monday night sessions are ticketed as a single off-the-record program that has already sold out. The schedule emphasizes community and dialogue—receptions bookend a lecture plus Q&A—suggesting Thiel wants a sustained, cumulative argument rather than one-off talks. The basics are public: dates (Sept. 15, 22, 29 and Oct. 6, 2025), venue, timing (5:30–9:30 p.m. PT), and the off-the-record ground rule. (Luma, ACTS 17 Collective)

The promotional notes say Thiel’s remarks will be “anchored on science and technology” while engaging theology, history, literature, and politics, and they name an unusual reading list: René Girard, Francis Bacon, Jonathan Swift, Carl Schmitt, and John Henry Newman. The format lists a Q&A led by Peter Robinson (of Uncommon Knowledge), reinforcing that the conversation will range across intellectual traditions, not just biblical exegesis. In other words, expect a hybrid of seminar and strategy session—aimed at people who design or govern powerful systems. (Luma)

A plausible arc emerges from those sources and Thiel’s recent public interviews. Girard frames how mimetic desire inflames rivalry and scapegoating; Bacon represents techno-optimism and the research state; Swift lampoons grandiose “progress” schemes; Schmitt opens questions of sovereignty, emergency, and the katechon (the “restrainer” of 2 Thessalonians); and Newman supplies the classic Christian synthesis on Antichrist. Thiel has already previewed a key tension: modern technologies (nuclear, bio, AI) give history an apocalyptic edge, yet a centralized, emergency-power response—“a one-world state with real teeth”—risks becoming Antichrist-like itself. He has said the task is to find a narrow path that avoids both Armageddon and a counterfeit savior—language that will likely structure the series. (Hoover Institution)

So the series matters as an attempt to recode “Antichrist” from caricature into a diagnostic of systems that concentrate power, compel conformity, and promise salvation through administration. Watch for two interpretive moves: first, a shift from a single villain to a structure that acts like one; second, a search for plural, accountable restraints—cultural, institutional, legal—that can “hold back” chaos without collapsing into total control. Given the off-the-record setting and the curated audience, the live discussion may shape how tech and policy insiders talk about risk governance this fall, even if no official transcript ever appears. (Luma, ACTS 17 Collective)

Speculative preview based on public syllabus
and prior commentary; not official.

Here's a bit of a preview, if you will:

Peter Thiel on the “Global Surveillance State” and the Antichrist

“The Antichrist will talk about Armageddon all the time. He’ll scare people—then offer to save them.” pic.twitter.com/buKpfXzhtc

— karma (@karma44921039) June 9, 2025

Created with help from ChatGPT

Carl Sagan's Warning

 

In the last interview of his life (1996), astronomer Carl Sagan warned of the dangers that come when citizens cannot ask skeptical scientific questions of those in authority. Watch and ask: was he right?
pic.twitter.com/bQKRm2yHOs

— Saganism (@Saganismm) August 6, 2025

Transcript of quote:

We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology in which no one knows anything about science and technology. Who is running science and technology in a democracy if people don’t know anything about.

Science is more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking; a way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human infallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions - to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we’re up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who ambles along. 

It is something that Jefferson laid great stress on. It wasn’t enough, he said, to enshrine some rights in the constitution, in the Bill of Rights. The people had to be educated and they had to practice their skepticism and their education. Otherwise, we don’t run the government. The government runs us.

Carl Sagan.