From the Editor's Desk | #9
CONNECT + INSPIRE
CADET is a bi-annual magazine about West Point culture.
Highly independent, quite unofficial, aggressively dedicated.
Based in DC @chrisWpestel @carolinepestel
Things from the Desk of the Editor-in-Chief
CADET - THE MAGAZINE
RESEARCH LIKE AN ARTIST creating a magazine takes you a lot of places. Physical places to interview and photograph, mental places in creative problem solving, even emotional places, but also some cool internet places. VOL III of CADET is about INDEPENDENTS - the self, self-knowledge, solitude, freedom…oneness. I was drawn this week to the story of Icarus and Daedalus mainly because we have a few “flight” related components of VOL III. Research can be a lot of fun - going to have to add Seth Godin’s The Icarus Deception to our reading list.
FOR EVERY HEART IN GRAY
BANNER WEEK It was another banner week for the USMA community. Check out the The Gold Oar Run tribute from the Crew team - excellent work on this video from plebe, yeah thats right, plebe Kade Caroll; The Thayer Leader Development Group took home impressive honors, yet again; AOG’s massive “On This Day” endeavor cruises along with this interesting story of the Grey Ghost; we’ve reached the portion of the year when there is a Founders Day event lurking around every corner; We found that old gads just LOVE doing PT and posting about it; it’s not everyday that a softball team has a FaceTime call with an astronaut, but Army Softball sure did; Cadet-Athletes Lynne Mooradian (track) and Madison Hovern (basketball) are raking up the accolades and destroying the academy record book; yeah, so is Women’s LAX; And its always invigorating and inspiring to see tweets from grad and Army Football fullbacks coach Mike Viti; #BEATnavy
RADIO GA GA
21:30 CLUB we finally got our butts to DC’s 9:30 Club where we got to hear opening act David Ramirez (from Austin, TX) set the stage for Citizen Cope - we were concerned about his health, he didn’t look or sing very well. We enjoyed the show, nonetheless. A couple of things of note, he was from DC, yet didn’t mention it AT ALL - that’s odd, right?…and I’m pretty sure I owned (during my cadet days) the trench coat leather jacket he had on.
HAUNTING as I said above, researching VOL III has led to some great finds and here is one of my new favorites: Burl Ives rendition of the cowboy classic Ghost Riders in the Sky.
For YOUR EYEBALLS
SEASON MEH season 3 of True Detective was better than season 2 but still couldn’t quite match the magic of season 1. Mahershala Ali was great, however.
FILMMAKING IS HARD check out this breakdown of a memorable scene from the classic Silence of the Lambs.
THE MATRIX
POTENT POTABLES here are a few things that crossed our paths in the past week that made us pontificate: Val Valiant Thor’s tenure at the Pentagon; this video on Starship Troopers and Fascism; even more Werner Herzog
ROWE, ROWE, ROWE, ROWE, ROWE the West Point Center for Oral history closed out their tribute to Black History Month with a great post on the Rowe Family…so many Rowes.
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH the Pestel women kicked-off women’s history month by attending a luncheon last Saturday highlighting women in the military with keynote speaker Elizabeth Dole.
The Design of Things
THE FULL SPECTRUM this video on writing women in movies delves into 4 movies with female leads - Alien (ambiguous gender), Silence of the Lambs (female in a male world), Kill Bill (woman as male action hero) and Lady Bird (the every woman) to look at 4 particular ways women can be written as movie characters. This selection shows how the full spectrum of the human/female experience can be explored on the big screen. A great primer prior to setting your sights on Captain Marvel.
West Point 100
ARCHITECT WANTED each week I have conversations with West Point creatives. Some are recurring conversations, others are first time conversations. Some lead me to new connections. That happened last week. This time it was a USMA grad architect - USMA 1984’s Vincent Bandy. I am really excited to learn more about Vincent bandy, especially because last week I spent time listening to a 99% Invisible episode on Usonia, a concept for modern living by Frank Lloyd Wright…in which I was reminded of the design & art principle/definition - To Inform & Delight
PODCAST FROM THIS WEEK
FREAKONOMICS CREATIVITY SERIES - you should check it out.
How to Be Creative
Where Does Creativity Come From?
Where Do Good Ideas Come From?
A Good Idea is Not Good Enough
Next Time: How to Fail like a Pro.
EXTRA: Elvis Costello Full Interview
PHOTOGRAPHY
DC DIVAS FOOTBALL football has played a large roll in my life as well as my creative endeavors. I have photographed youth, high school, college and professional football. Last week I came across the all-female DC Divas. I was thoroughly impressed and will be spending some time capturing this team as their season begins next month.
SOCIAL MEDIA
420 Likes, 6 Comments - Caroline Pestel (@carolineapestel) on Instagram: "Spent yesterday afternoon with @kamryn.pestel13 at the @armynavyclubdc celebrating..."
