From the Editor's Desk | #11
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
“In writing the soapboxes I used to just talk to the readers, anything that came to my mind - just to make the books not seem like something cold and aloof and it was something you buy and throw away. I wanted them to feel buying a Marvel book was like visiting an old friend.”
FOR EVERY HEART IN GRAY
WOMEN OF WEST POINT maybe this NYT article flashed across your Facebook timeline this week. If it did and you haven’t yet clicked on it, do it now. It is a remarkable piece of multimedia journalism about the women of West Point. It played a large role in the inspiration and creation of CADET. The pictures, the words, the audio, the presentation. Its all just so perfect.
SEE IT THROUGH this weekend is the 14th Annual 1LT Laura Walker Memorial Handball Tournament at West Point. 4 years ago we attended and saw how the Women’s Handball team kept Laura’s legacy alive. If you can spare a few minutes, take a look for yourself.
CADET - THE MAGAZINE
VOL III CONTRIBUTORS we updated our contributors page. Take a sneak peak at what’s in store for VOL III. There are over 20 contributors this time around and we couldn’t be more proud to bring this edition of CADET to you.
SUBSCRIBE so its just days now until we have VOL III in hand and we will be mailing our latest effort to our subscribers. If you’d like to join in on the fun SUBSCRIBE HERE and be one of the first to get your hands on VOL III.
PRE-ORDER A SINGLE COPY or you can PRE-ORDER an individual copy of the magazine. Either way, we are super-dooper-proud of VOL III and we just know you are going to love it as well.
RADIO GA GA
NOW THE OBOE MAY BE BARELY BREATHING am I the only one who strongly associates Huey Lewis with Ted Danson? I really had no strong musical influences this week but did hear Huey Lewis “Heart of Rock ‘n Roll” again and love it more and more now that I have noticed how nuanced it is. It tantalizes all five sense with its dazzling array of sax and harmonica and cataloging of American locales. I never actually was aware of the video so here it is for your enjoyment, you’ll wanna stick around for the final 20 seconds or so as they are quite odd.
FOR YOUR EYEBALLS
TIME TRAVEL TRAILER TRIFECTA this week we encountered a threesome of terrific trailers that transported us to another time and place - STRANGER THINGS SEASON 3 TRAILER, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO TRAILER, TOY STORY 4 TRAILER along with the Hulu Original PEN 15, and CAPTAIN MARVEL holding down the fort on the 90s and 00s vibes (respectively) there is little question that we have reached peak-nostalgia-state in pop-culture history. This is not a bad thing by any means, especially when done as expertly as these examples have.
THE MATRIX
JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL check out this video if you are unfamiliar with the Stanley Milgram Experiments this really got us thinking about the nature of independence and conformity.
The Design of Things
VERISIMILITUDE how do you design a language? Check out this episode of The Allusionist that takes a deep dive into the creation of the native tongues used in Game of Thrones. Talk about sparing no expense, in terms of commitment. Impressive.
THE DESIGN OF AN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Stan Lee and Hugh Hefner were both well known editors-in-chief but surprisingly they are not the same person (glad that was cleared up). Though Stan Lee once cameoed as Hef in an Iron Man movie.
West Point 100
MORE PORTRAITURE Hold You Me Studios’ Christy Fatula creates some truly captivating Cadet portraits. They have my attention and they should have yours. We love seeing non-graduate’s take on cadets and she is creating some hauntingly timeless images. Christy’s husband is a 2007 USMA grad and they have been stationed at West Point for a few years. So all you firstie parents should be sending her an email…STAT!
COURAGEOUS, CREATIVE, TENACIOUS I am very proud of my wife, Caroline USMA 2010. Here is a new blog post from BEYOND THE UNIFORM and here she is ON A PODCAST from a few years ago. You should check either or both of them out if you are trying to balance your passions and your professional life or are transitioning out of the Army.
PODCAST FROM THIS WEEK
99% INVISIBLE this week was a love letter, of sorts, to one of my favorite things…the library. This podcast and the book PALACES FOR THE PEOPLE talks about, among other things, the library’s role in social infrastructure. Now, please bear with me here (I did have to look that one up, that is the correct use of bear, its not “bare” with me), this is probably not the first time I have lamented over the old USMA library and certainly wont be the last - I have a strong affinity for it, sorry. That grand foyer, the stair case, the media room on the third floor, Patton and his binoculars forced to stare at the building.Okay, so look, I will be very honest, although I have been in the current iteration of the library, I haven’t seen it all. I owe it to myself to commit to a full tour to develop a new affinity.
COMIC STRIPS & COMIC BOOKS
WHAT IF? WHAT THE!? CINEMATIC UNIVERSE AND CHARLIE BROWN what if? was a Marvel comic book series that explored alternate realities of the established comic book universe. Separately, What The!? was a Marvel comic book series that spoofed the established comic book universe. Then there was the Chris Giarusso series Mini-Marvels which was a comic-strip version of the established universe (heavily influenced by Peanuts). Why am I talking about all of this…well, What If? will be an animated series on the soon-to-be Disney+ Mini-Marvels debuted in the back of Marvel Comics, much like Stan Lee’s Soapbox (quoted above) and finally, I have wanted to create a West Point comic strip in the vein of Peanuts/Mini-Marvels ever since I doodled it in my ever so cherished USMA notebooks. I think this was all justification to post a link to this 5 minute history of Charles Schultz’s Peanuts.
SOCIAL MEDIA
@CADETBORROWED we started a new companion Instagram account to try out a new project. The new account @cadetborrowed is inspired by @drawawalk a baseball doodle account and the terrific and impactful and often fun imagery of the USMA community.
Things from the Desk of the Editor-in-Chief
Grant Hall Oil Painting + Old School Pins + 1-Year of Beautiful Things + West Pointers in the Arts FB Group + A List of Iconic Army Football Moments + What I’m Reading