It was the fourth of July weekend. I walked into a gas station store on July 4 and while checking out I saw a mini stack of Zonnic nicotine gum on the counter and I felt a sense of DETACHMENT* from the present.
I don't smoke and I have never smoked and I never will smoke. It doesn't matter if Willie Nelson is right about it's all going to pot. But the sight of the Old Glory perched up on top of the Zonnic box and phrases like "one more victory" and "every victory counts" on the box brought to mind the famous Pulitzer winning Joe Rosenthal picture raising the flag on Iwo Jima.
When history visits I find easy company. The 70 year old Rosenthal picture above coming to mind had more to do with the angle with which Old Glory was resting on top of the Zonnic box than the publicly private (not a military reference) war on smoking that has been raging since pretty much after WW2. They say a quitter never wins but in the battle trying to kick the smoking habit only the quitters win. The same can be said about trying to give up any habit!
The picture that Rosenthal took had such an impact on the consciousness of America that it took just a trivial sight from everyday life to bring it to mind again. But I'll bet that Rosenthal never would have guessed that his picture would inspire the graphic artists of the world for many years to come. How about the Sri Lankans borrowing from the raising to adorn the face of their 1000 ruppee note ?! Anyone want to bet a 1000 rupees that this wasn't inspired by the raising ?
Screw the Cold War and grab a cold one. I am no seer when it comes to beer. But I have seen what happens to people after a few beers. The artistic inspiration from Rosenthal's Iwo Jima picture wouldn't be completely American if beer cans aren't dressed in patriotic livery inspired by the raising replete with stars, stripes and all.
The raising inspired livery raised some questions in the minds of federal regulators but Ol' Glory brewers successfully appealed and the pledge of Allegiance was printed on every can sold after what must have felt like WW2 between the beer company and the federal government.
In this 70th year of the raising, The US Naval Institute was kind enough to curate this collection of a myriad range of artwork that was raising inspired. The headline suggested that the USNI for a moment thought that the raising picture just might have the honor of being one of the most reproduced yet most parodied. On par are your deeds...
Racing inspired. As I brought myself back to reality from the momentary DETACHMENT*, I walked away from the counter. In the left corner of my eye, I caught wind of a certain Steve McQueen stealing the show on the store's best value DVD shelf!
Just imagine how much the original reel on which this movie was made might cost to one who would like to get it ?! McQueen wasn't just the king of cool 10 minute car chases but he also had a keen interest in endurance sport car racing which drove him to make the LeMans movie. McQueen did do his part to portray uniformed characters in his illustrious screen career. The Great Escape set in WW2 times comes to mind right off the bat.
The chronological representation of time on the Great Escape poster brings to mind the track listing of a Roger Waters ( he that once famously broke up the band Pink Floyd ) album I came across the other day on the iTunes store front ( don't judge just because I shop for digital music ).
There are many pros and cons of hitch hiking when you want a ride on this long road out of Eden in the reverse direction. I don't know the future from Adam but I'd like to think that a $4.99 DVD of Bullitt could be auctioned off for a million bucks ( not the animal ) a hundred years from now. Like the Rosenthal Iwo Jima picture, the Bullitt portrait never loses it's cool and the King Of Cool will find no great escape from our consciousness anytime soon.
'Nuf horsing around with history I thought. I jumped into my car, fired up M83's Steve McQueen song on my iPhone and screeched away from the gas station like Lt.Bullitt would have done when the duty of the present called. The eye never fatigues from seeing that fatigue colored '68 Mustang does it ?
* Operation Detachment was the name given to the American military operation at Iwo Jima in 1945.
