THE TRANSCENDENCE DIARIES

The Danger of Third Party Poltics in Modern Day America

2012-06-02T04:39:00.001-04:00

Trotsky recently sent in this link to an article from TruthDig, a righteous lefty news feed webzine. It's disturbing to say the least. Professionally “leaked” White House documents that show what a hardliner United States President Barack Obama is on “terrorists” so the hard right cannot accuse him of being a “softy”. Ironic since that’s precisely why most people voted him into office. But that was then and this is now. And if there’s one thing we learn growing up in America, it’s that during election campaigns it’s all hopes and dreams and promises of peaches and cream. Once elected and in office it’s “time to get real” and “eat your peas”.

Nothing new here if you’re an avid news hound. But strung together it’s a shocking series of discoveries about just how many people around the world president Obama kills everyday in the name of “keeping America safe”. Just more of the same revelations about what a ruthless killer he is in this new age of remote location drone strikes. Trotsky’s point being that honest intelligent and compassionate Americans need to stop voting for the candidates of both leading political parties in the United States if we’re ever to see a change in these kinds of brutal murderers holding the office of the president.

I've been down this path many times over the last twenty years. As long time readers know, I started an Independent Voters Page on Facebook (Here) and many moons ago as a young idealistic college student I ran a non-profit called Rock the Boat to encourage people to not vote at all, unless for a third party candidate, "because the two majority parties were so similar there was no recognizable difference between them. Along with many other little regional non-profits around the country, we accomplished an incredible feat: the little engine that could, Ralph Nader, won 2,882,995 votes in the general election, or 2.74 percent of the popular vote. Dem candidate Al Gore beat G.W. Bush by almost a million votes from what we know of the votes that were counted (many more never were counted due to an unprecedented intervention by the United States Supreme Court). Had the additional three million votes taken by Nader gone to Gore, which surely they would have, the Cheney-Bush-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz Death Machine would have never been able to have stolen the 2000 election, supreme court or not.

Now depending on where one stands on that invisible line of the political spectrum, one could argue that things may have looked mightily different for America had the Neo-Cons never gotten into the White House. Fiscally they spent and borrowed more money than all other US presidents combined, (seriously?!), a shocking statistic; one that combined with some of the loosest Wall Street friendly anti-regulation, plummeted the country into the worst economic recession in its history. (Why the so-called “right” is allowed to forget this well known fact and blame the nation’s current economic woes on Obama is beyond me. Frankly I think they’re all just totally retarded, or they think the American public is. Who doesn’t remember seeing all those emergency meetings at the White House everyday between George W. Bush, Bernanke, Paulson and Barack Obama three months before Obama even took office as they scrambled to try to hand the hot mess off to Barack before the whole country imploded? We have never seen anything close to like that before in our lifetimes. He may be a murdering fuckhead but the man took office at one of the worst economic times in American history and to his credit got things stabilized pretty damn fast.)

Besides destroying the economy and skyrocketing the national debt, Bush the younger also made sure that education took a nose dive. But that's the soft stuff. The lasting legacy of those years, the story that will be studied in universities for centuries to come, was the near complete abolition of the basic rights associated with the once revered US Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and the incessant blatant criminal behavior that went completely unchecked in the name of national security -- and worse yet, eventually was pardoned by president Obama. The U.S. invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq in the face of unanimous global protests could and should go down in world history as one of the worst crimes against humanity in recent history. [Granted: The United States has so many other examples of similar such heinous atrocities in its history when it comes to overt imperialist acts of aggression against other countries that it is difficult to qualify such a statement.]

But because of Iraq, and numerous other calculated acts of violence and criminality, America lost its reputation as a respectable democracy on the world stage. Not only did Bush the man seem daft, if not downright mentally challenged, the whole lot of them appeared to be wicked murdering greedy and heartless. Imperialist monsters from days of old. It was embarrassing to be American for almost a decade if you travelled outside of our borders. Never before had we seen a president of the United States be portrayed as such a laughing stock internationally. Which one assumes is why since he left the office we don’t see much of him. Compared to say Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton who are still very active in the world. God only knows what GW is doing these days. If he weren’t so damn evil I would feel kind of sorry for him. He always seems a little sad and insecure. I think towards the end he got the joke and realized that it was on him; and frankly feels bad for it. He displays none of the pride (the good kind, as in being proud) that most American presidents walk around with post-presidency. Rather he seems to just stay in hiding.

But back to that election and the results of it. So it was, that for many who once thought that "it doesn't matter who you vote for, both sides are the same" a reality set in that perhaps it matters more than we realize. One wonders if president Gore would have accepted and approved the proposal to "plan and execute a military attack on American soil, like a modern day Pearl Harbor, that kills a minimum of 2,000 people but not more than 5,000, in order to foster the support of the American people for another war, i.e. a much needed invasion of Iraq to gain a better foothold in the Middle East" as was offered by the right-wing think tank 'Project for a New American Century', a proposal obviously accepted and approved by the Bush-Cheney administration. The same proposal was handed to then president Bill Clinton in 1998 and he refused to even consider it. Within less than a month in office the Bush administration and the Pentagon was filled with members of this same 'Project for a New American Century' think tank and already planning an invasion of Iraq. Months before their "Pearl Harbor-like attack on American soil" that transpired on September 11th, 2001. If Gore would have won that election, many believe that life on earth, especially as it relates to this new “global war on terror caused by the “attacks on 9/11”” would be very very different than it is today.

What’s being discussed of course is known as "the lesser of two evils" argument. It's a devastating realization. If moderately intelligent it is a revelation that every American citizen has at some point in their lives -- usually during their late adolescent years, which customarily leads to a period of nihilistic apathy where they don't vote or think about politics at all for a while. If the person is the least bit compassionate, this phase is temporary and is followed by a renewed sense of righteous desire for justice and change, which leads to the obligatory joining, rallying and voting for one of the many small alternative “third parties” that exist in the American political playing field. This is "late twenties" stage stuff. "We can do this! We can make a change! We can eradicate the stranglehold that the Republican and Democratic parties have on American government!" This is the territory of Ralph Naders and Ross Perots, Ron Pauls and what's his names.

But again, this phase too is temporary. If the person is practical they quickly realize that, like it or not -- like Russia, China and the United States dominate in the global arena -- the two party system does indeed have a monopoly on American government and a third political party in the United States doesn't stand a chance of winning any important elections any time soon. So they head back to focusing on making "a slight difference at least" by helping to choose the lesser evil of one of the big two.

These people, the newly reformed “no longer third party voters” call themselves Independents. They register not as republican or democrat. They truthfully despise both parties almost equally. But recognizing that we don't really have a choice outside of these two parties, they suck it up and attempt to discern from the limited amount of honest substantive data supplied to us during presidential campaigns who might make the least number of poor decisions. Or evil ones. It’s sad. I'll give you that. If you’ve made it reading this far, whether you're in the here now or somewhere in the far off future perhaps, yes, we are all very aware of how sad our current state of affairs is right now.

The article referenced above makes a very clear case that those who thought that a vote for Obama might make the country less evil or more respectable on the world stage when it comes to foreign policy were unfortunately wrong. His color may have changed, but his methods and mentality stayed the same. This president is every bit the cold blooded killer that his predecessor was. He's just craftier at disguising it. He plays b-ball instead of rides horses. And he knows how to tie his shoes. But other than that, he's the same old boss with more than his fair share of blood on his hands.

But what about domestic issues? Certainly there is something to be said about his health care reforms, his banking regulation proposals, his consumer friendly credit card company laws, his commitment to social welfare programs, tolerant immigration reform, middle class protectionism, improvement of education, women's reproductive and health care rights and his newest crusade, same sex marital equality. If the two parties were indeed the same, being controlled by the same principles and running on the same platforms, then they'd have nothing to argue about. Romney wouldn't need to run for president. Or so the argument goes for "the lesser of the two evils".

I posed this question to Trotsky today via Facebook with the message below. He is still in that phase where he is staunchly opposed to voting for either of the two majority parties, feeling that if he and others do not begin to shift away from voting for the same old same old then we will forever be stuck with the same old same old. The Ex Norwegian agrees. I am torn and thus truly curious how people like he feel about this issue, how they'll feel if we end up with another George W. Bush in the office. So I said to him:

"The is incredibly shocking truth telling here old friend. Thank you for posting. The question posed then is, if Obama is as much an evil calculating murdering thug as Bush Jr. and/or Romney would be (we actually don't know how Romney would be, nor do I care), then it behooves us to NOT vote for Obama, simply on grounds of principle. (which is what I did in '08). So we vote for a more noble and less savage alternative than the choices being offered by the big two. But regardless, one of the big two will still win; at least as things stand now. If we do tip the scales that heavily to swing a decent percentage of moderates away from Obama, as we did in 2000 by supporting Nader, are we prepared for a Romney presidency? Would there be a difference? You infer repeatedly that u don’t believe there would be. (And related to international imperialism you are obviously right).

“But by many accounts it appears there would be huge differences here at home, socially and economically. But you are willing to live with the results if our social service programs are slashed? Financial regulations slashed? And the wealthiest 1% receive deeper tax cuts on the erroneous grounds of the foolhardy trickle-down economics theory? I'm just curious. Is it a "fuck all" mentality that you're operating from? Just to buck the system for purely anarchistic purposes? Or do you really believe there would be no difference between a Repub led White House versus a Dem led one? Because your constant lambasting of the current president does nothing but compel many in the middle to think twice before voting for him, and you very well might accidentally throw that slippery wish-washer Mitt Romney into the White House, though I don’t see it, not at all, intuitively speaking. But if you do, what I'm curious about is: are you o.k. with that? Do tell."

I'll keep you posted. It's an intriguing place America is in right now. More discouraging a place one might say than we’ve ever been in. It’s a nightmare come to life. A damn annoying three ring circus. Sad, frustrating, disheartening, frightening, insulting, and discouraging. A lot of hullaballoo over two ignoble men and an onslaught of non-issues and gossip abound. Anything BUT the issues. Even those with the noblest intentions in the media partake in the daily inanity of it all. We the people have been kidnapped. Hooked. Trapped. Imprisoned. Taken hostage. Thrown into a prisoner of war camp and left for dead. Helpless to do anything about it but write these worthless letters or sign endless petitions that go nowhere and do nothing. Voting against the big two that together act as one seems a noble act. At least theoretically. To make a statement. But how long until it actually accomplishes anything? Other than potentially making our captors even worse than the ones we have now? That’s the question.

The Renaissance of American Television

2012-05-31T05:06:00.000-04:00

     Tonight aired a special 2 hour season finale of the new hit television series TOUCH starring Kiefer Sutherland. What makes TOUCH special is not just that it hosts smart intelligent writing, or that it's focus is on helping people to make the world a better place -- definite rarities in the history of American television (there's a reason why they called it "the boob tube" in days gone by), but more importantly TOUCH is special because it's one of many recently new shows on American television that all share those same qualities. There aren't many of them. At least not yet. In fact only a handful. One handful. Most TV today is still just as shallow stupid predictable mean spirited and intelligence-insulting as it's always been, catering to the lowest common denominator of our great society.
     But things have been changing lately. For a few years. Some might say it started with the premier of CALIFORNICATION on Showtime, where among other things one can listen to some of the best writing on the small OR big screen in recent memory. Take away it's pandering gratuitous over the top sexual content, and the blatant lack of spirit or spirituality in the show, as if there's truly nothing deeper than skin, nor farther than the eye can see, and CALIFORNICATION is downright brilliant at times. Never mind that the show has now been on way too long and both the writers and the actors have become way too comfortable and proud of themselves. For a while CALIFORNICATION heralded a new age where American television was not just for the suburban 9 to 5 set.

     REALTIME WITH BILL MAHER, along with THE COLBERT REPORT, JON STEWART, DEMOCRACY NOW and even shows like HOMELAND and BOARDWALK EMPIRE on HBO, or DOWNTON ABBEY on PBS have shown real promise that sometimes TV CAN be better than good. And in fact it's getting better and better. Some might call it a modern renaissance. One long hoped for. More than one arts and entertainment section has recognized that some of this generation's greatest actors have made the leap to the small screen, and not only not doused their career with gasoline and flame, but have actually produced remarkably rewarding results for themselves and their careers, as well as for an ever growing viewing audience that for a while judged television as the nursing home for washed up actors, actresses and writers. Or at best, a truck stop in between work on the big screen.
   But not anymore. Television today is beginning to offer more and more high quality art and entertainment, getting better and better with each passing season. Coincidentally it is simultaneously also becoming increasingly worse. Other aspects of it at least. There are after all over 500 channels on some cable packages. So for every TOUCH there's five to ten new JERSEY SHOREs or REAL HOUSEWIVES. Perhaps it's no coincidence but rather a simple result of Newtonian physics playing out, through the expression of human consciousness -- the underlying mechanism of television content after all. As some on earth evolve, creating more substantive intelligent content that cares and isn't afraid to show it, others are allowing their more base desires to flow, creating increasingly more vulgar and shallow content. A yin and yang thing. Just like life itself. Where for every action there is an opposite reaction.
     Either way, for those of us who shunned American television for the better part of our lives for just this reason, we can continue to do so for the rest of our lives if we so choose. But we can no longer lay claim to being the cool kids on the block for "not watching TV because it sucks and isn't good for the health of our mind heart or spirit." There's actually some damn fine creative TV being made right now in our here-now history. A renaissance? Well, maybe not let's go that far. At least not yet. But it does make one curious as to just how far this evolution is going to run and how good American television is going to get in the process. TOUCH is just one example of how evolved humankind -- at least from what we can observe in the Western world -- is becoming. Recognizing this, being a part of it, can only be described as being good for the heart and spirit. And like it or not, those who still refuse to partake on the simple grounds that regardless of how good it gets they are still just too good for it just might be missing out on something not only very good, but good for them as well.

Why Memorial Day is Not a Holiday

2012-05-28T20:24:00.001-04:00

Today is Memorial Day. I know this because the local and national news is all abuzz this weekend about it. It’s turned into one of the most popular holidays of the year for most Americans. Photographs and video footage of sun bathers and suburban family barbeques abound and for days we’ve been bombarded by traffic updates and weather predictions. Every now and then someone might make mention of “our brave men and women in uniform”, but for the most part we hear about the great relief it is to Americans coast to coast to have finally made it yet again to this most coveted three day weekend.

Like many Americans I grew up not knowing what a Memorial Day was. I didn’t actually learn the true meaning of “Memorial Day” until I was well into my late twenties. And quite by accident. But I'll never forget the day that I did finally discover its meaning. The holiday magically appeared out of nowhere as it always did. I wasn’t prepared for it, not ever having children nor “a normal job” and thus never needing to know when “three-day weekends” arise in our shared annual calendar. It wasn’t until I woke up that morning that I discovered that it was Memorial Day. Sure I’d celebrated plenty of Memorial Day weekends with the fam and various groups of friends through the years. But frankly I always got all those three day weekends confused, they always took me by surprise, and frankly I never saw much reason in fixing that. President’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Labor Day. They came and went, all anonymously blended into the social fabric of the plebeian mainstream society I was trying desperately not to fit into since I could remember.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but three day weekends were three day weekends at best and that was that. Excuses to get out of school when we were younger. And after that, well, most of the time I usually missed them entirely. Rockers, artists, entertainers live in worlds that are so isolated, unique and far removed from normal that most people I have known throughout my life think I'm joking when I tell them things like that. I first started to encounter the odd looks and laughs regarding how alien our lifestyle was at some point during the college years. Someone in the normal world would ask “Hey man what are you doing for Memorial Day Weekend?” To which I’d reply “Oh yeah? When’s that?”

I must confess that I still don’t actually know “when” Memorial Day weekend is. I just happen to know that it’s “this” weekend. And for the others... Forget about it. People say “you can’t wear white after Labor Day”, which in itself is a helpful tip surely. Except one has to know when Labor Day is to make use of it. And I haven’t got a clue. St. Patrick's Day is another one. You figure those are the kinds of things people learn when they get old and have nothing better to do. When you’re riding the beast, living full tilt, surfing in the zone and making the most out of each moment you’re alive, why the fuck would you care when these silly holidays for the masses are? Now that’s just some hardcore truth flying out of the mouth of babes there. And perhaps I’m as innocent in my lack of understanding the importance people attach to these holidays as I am ignorant about it. But truth be told it’s not like I’m ever going to head out to some barbeque to drink a few beers and talk baseball with the guys while the ladies do whatever ladies do at such things any time soon in this life just because “it’s a three day weekend”. It’s just not the kind of life we live in the world of art and entertainment.

But on said day, in late twenties as mentioned before, I woke up to discover that it was indeed one of those “Memorial Days”, I hadn’t missed it, and lo and behold I actually felt a desire to do something about it. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but I was curious as to what people did on these days. So I rang Ferret. As usual he wasn’t doing anything. Just sitting around watching TV and playing his drums. I cruised over to his house on the premise that we would eventually “do something”. When I walked in I made myself comfortable and proceeded to just sit and watch the TV that he had on. I I didn’t actually have TV. I hadn’t had what people call TV since I had left home for college ten years earlier. Like I said, it was a different world we lived in. Out of the loop would be an understatement if attempting to describe the kind of lifestyle we lived. The first thing I noticed was that the television was filled with images of old men in military uniforms at what appeared to be special public galas. Even the president was at some of them.

I remember getting a real palpable feeling of emotion starting to swell up inside of me. I was feeling surprisingly moved and patriotic. After a thirty minutes or so Ferret started complaining. “Come on man, turn this shit off. Fuck! Why do you always want to watch this serious crap?!” But I was deeply engrossed in what I was seeing and hearing. It turned out that Memorial Day was a serious holiday, if that's what you want to call it. I wouldn’t. It’s more of a day of mourning and remembrance for our military soldiers who have died in battle. And there’s a truckload of them. More than a million. Unfortunately most people don’t treat it that way these days. Which is odd. And sad. Considering that our country is currently at war right now in at least four different countries overseas. But times have changed a lot since the days of 1868 when the Day was first created. Back then people went to the grave sites of loved ones who died in battle to lay down flowers to honor and remember them. Solemn would be the word I would choose to describe the occasion. Heartbreaking would be another. I was forever changed from that day with Ferret. He never quite got into it the way I did, but after a few more shows about it, even he started to feel the patriotic bug. At least in the moment.

Ever since that moment of learning what it was all about, I have had a tough time with Memorial Day. It originated during the Civil War. A way to honor men we’d lost on both sides. But the tradition continued. The United States has started or participated in over fifty additional wars, battles or military operations since the Civil War. In total over 1,400,000 men and women have been killed. Another 1,500,000 have been maimed, wounded or seriously injured. That’s almost three-million Americans killed or injured. Celebrating the lives and deaths of our men and women in the military who served in World War I or II seems a no-brainer. It feels obligatory if you live and love here. And downright blasphemous if you don’t do it in some way. The problem is what happened before and after. That’s when it gets tricky.

Truth is I never gave much attention to thinking about things like wars or the military. Even though I grew up in a military family on my father’s side, i.e. my father, grandfather, and great grandfather all served in the military and fought in at least one war, I always leaned towards music and the arts since I was born. The family’s dark horse. Through the combination of influences from the world of music and the world of arts and letters, I got the peace bug at an early age. Between Thoreau, Bob Dylan and John Lennon my fate as a peacenik was pretty much sealed before I could walk. The older I got, the closer it came to my time to register for selective service. For years I resisted. Just didn't do it. Swore I would never. And that worked for a long time. I wasn’t raised in the post World War II generation. I was raised in the post Vietnam War generation. And if there was one thing that separated our generations fundamentally, it was what we learned about the United States and war.

Unlike our parents and grandparents, we were taught that the United States government was a greedy imperialist invading nation. Had been ever since our victory in World War II. Something went wrong in our hearts and minds. President Eisenhower, a war General himself, even warned us about it in his farewell speech. Told us that we were in jeopardy of losing control of the country to a giant conglomerate of money and power hungry weapons manufacturers and a blood thirsty military. [the origin of the term “military industrial complex”] That together they were starting to seize control of the mechanisms that run our very government.

Of course this is all old news to most. Yet one gets the feeling that people still don’t realize how far gone it is. A few do. But most still seem to be drinking the Kool-Aid. The Vietnam War was a symptomatic evolution of Eisenhower’s warning. The people of the United States were brought into it based on a piggish greed by a select few who we as a people will probably never know, the entire war based on lies and false pretenses. In the twenty plus years the US government and military either openly or secretly fought that war, despite mass protests by the American people, they killed millions and millions of innocent people in countries that most Americans had never even heard of. They also tragically were responsible for the deaths and wounding of over 200,000 young Americans. Young Americans we will never see again and can never get back.

On and on it went. Right up into the present day. One country after another invaded or bombed or both if they didn’t agree to play ball with the big bad nuclear bomb dropping United States of America. The largest global protests and demonstrations in human history took place in the year 2003. All over the earth Countries of all faiths backgrounds races and nationalities came together in solidarity to accomplish one thing: try to stop the United States government, then under the leadership of the Cheney/Bush regime, from viciously invading the small country of Iraq. But to no avail. The country was attacked, over a million people killed in total, the government was overthrown and an American-friendly government was installed. A system that has continued to be repeated time and time again since the 1940s. U.S. troops are still there and will be for years to come.

The same is unfortunately true for Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Yemen. Not to mention covert opps that are happening all over the globe without the knowledge of the American people yet. My friends and I have personally lost a few buddies from high school and college who were fighting over in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a hard pill to swallow. Especially when thinking of their parents and wives and children. I’ve got a few friends and family members who are in both countries now. One of them confided in me a few months ago that he felt disgusted doing what they're doing over there. That many of them do. When I asked him what they're doing, he told me “building oil wells or pipelines. Military bases over oil wells and pipelines running from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf. That’s our main job. Build them and keep the people away from them.” Of course I knew this was true. We all did. But thinking it’s true is different than hearing it’s true firsthand from someone who’s over there doing it.

In days gone by it was easy to honor our military and the men who led them. When we think of the Revolutionary War. we think of the so-called Founding Fathers, courageous visionaries who led brave men into battle to fight for our freedom against tyranny. In most of the wars the United States has fought since World War II, we’ve been the tyranny, and the enemies have been the brave men and women fighting for their freedom. We call the people we shoot at and bomb "insurgents" and yet the people we shoot at and bomb call us the "insurgents". It’s a contradiction we have to live with everyday as American citizens. Made all the more painful, like an infection that is only getting worse, every time we hear of yet another soldier killed. Made even worse when we hear politicians who have never fought in a war and never plan to talk openly about their potential plans to invade or attack yet another country for one reason or another. They talk a good talk. But they won't be doing any fighting or seeing any battles. They’ll send young kids over to do it for them. And if they die, “well, that’s the breaks. You should have kept your kids out of the military like I did,” you can hear Mitt Romney saying. “My kids are helping serve their country by helping get me elected as president,” he said. That’s a direct quote. Eisenhower is probably doing 360s in his grave.

Like I said, Memorial Day is a tough one. On the one hand, we are trapped in a country with a government addicted to starting wars with other countries and we can’t do anything about it. On the other hand, as compassionate people we feel a deep sense of loss for our fellow brothers and sisters who have been killed in these wars. We don’t blame them. How can we? They don’t knowingly march off to war knowing these things. I’ve never met one who has. If they knew these things they wouldn’t be marching off to war. For if there’s one thing we can honestly say about American soldiers in the military it’s that they’re some of the most patriotic people in the country. They truly believe they are serving the best interests of their country and their fellow citizens, fighting heroically for freedom and democracy and liberty. It’s only after they get there, some of them, that they begin to see the bigger picture. After that, either blood-lust or insanity over takes them. Or they simply never bother to put the pieces together, instead they just follow orders from the next up in the chain of command. But these are the innocents. They may be responsible for killing other innocents in far away countries the United States has no business being in, but they’re just as innocent as the people they’re killing.

That’s why no matter how against unilateral unprovoked military invasions of other countries I am, I still feel a deep sense of respect and admiration and appreciation for the soldiers who get called into active duty and risk their very lives to do so. It is why on Memorial Day I don’t feel too much like celebrating or barbequing or sunbathing. And it’s why I don’t say things like “Happy Memorial Day” or “Have a great Memorial day Weekend”. Perhaps if we spent less time vacationing and partying and going to the beach during these three days, and more time memorializing all our dead and contemplating why they’re dead, maybe we’d figure out a way to stop any more from dying, and maybe we’d figure out a way to stop our government from going to war whenever they want to whether we the people want them to or not. It may sound far fetched. But we have to at least try.

The Importance of Being Nice

2012-05-27T04:41:00.000-04:00

          Watching the film ANOTHER YEAR by Mike Leigh. Such a simple film. And through this simplicity so deep, moving and impactful. I dare say I don't think I'll forget these characters. At least not anytime soon. About midway through the movie, the simplest thought occurred to me. How important it is to be a nice person. Sounds simple enough, I know. But how often do we forget to stop focusing on ourselves and our own needs, longings and desires to remember to be nice to others?
          There are plenty of nice people in the world. We meet them now and then. For me personally I find that whenever I meet someone who seems truly kind hearted, sincere and genuine it has an uncanny ability to stop time for a minute or two and rattle me up. There's just something special about them. They don't come off all preoccupied with themselves. They look you in the eye. They're soft. They seem genuinely interested in you and how you are doing. My mom is actually one of those people. I feel lucky to be able to feel comfortable saying that. But she really is. No matter how hard things get in her life, and God bless her, things have just almost always been hard for her in this life, she still has time for people. She still comes off sincerely interested in how they're doing. She stops and listens. She offers advice that is real advice rather than simply an excuse to be heard speaking. She's a therapist by trade who seems to do more work for free for her clients than for her usual fees. She claims she just can't help it. That she can't very well "push people away just because they can't pay." Well I know plenty of therapists who can. And do. Everyday of the week.

          Genuinely nice people are some of the most valuable commodities we have on planet earth. Of course, "nice" is a subjective term. a descriptive adjective that can potentially mean many different things to many people. But in general, most people have at least a broad understanding of what it means. The poster above does a decent job of explaining it. Honest, trustworthy, innocent due to a rare absence of guilt. Capable of admitting their mistakes, and further, ready and able to apologize and make amends for them. Admitting we are wrong, letting go of the need to be right in the moment of disagreement is no easy task. I can vouch for that. It hurts. It actually hurts your insides. But the pain fades quickly once the mistake is acknowledged and apologized for. This is something I have learned time and time again and something I consider a mini-miracle. Nice people remember who you are. They are grateful for your friendship. They are grateful for a lot of things. They stay close to their family and friends. They go out of their way to do kind things for others. It shows on their face, nice people.
          You know that grimace that seems permanently plastered on the countenance of Donald Trump? That's kind of like the opposite of being a nice person showing on someone's face. It's as if our consciousness shines through the eyes, and more profoundly shapes the looks our faces make. Over time these looks, if repeated enough, remain. Forever imprinted like water-scarred gorges and valleys at the bottom of dried up riverbeds. You know you are in the presence of a nice person almost from the moment you meet. In fact you don't even have to meet them in person. You can tell on the phone or on the internet, just through your interactions with them. It's not rocket science. Nice is nice and anything else is everything else but.
          Nice people remind me what a sod I am. I am lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) to be in an industry where almost no matter what we do we are constantly being accused of being way nicer than we actually are. Don't get me wrong. I try. I try hard. I am in a constant state of stopping and resetting. But I feel terribly humbled when people over-thank me for doing something nice, as if it's some kind of a rare occurrence. As if it's an unnatural state of humankind, to do nice things. In a way it makes me a tad uncomfortable. I wish being nice was such a normal state for us here that we didn't have to feel obliged to thank people when they did something nice for us. Of course we still would, because that's the nice thing to do.
One of the most significant things we can observe about this subject in modern times is that it isn't usually easy to be nice in today's world. In fact I would venture to say it never has been. It's a dog eat dog world as they say. Nice guys finish last. One assumes nice girls finish last too. Or so they say. Being nice can get you in a lot of trouble. Especially when dealing with not so nice people. I remember one time someone very close to me, a not so nice person, was glancing at a set of photos i brought back from a trip to Brasil that I had just returned from, and when she got to one particular photo of me with my arm around a new friend I had made there, she stared at it longer than she had stared at any of the other photographs. I asked her what she was looking at. "You're a nice person aren't you?" she asked. I didn't know how to reply. "I don't know... Why do you ask?" "Well just from the look on your face... I mean, you're serious here. You really mean it..." "Mean what?" "Your smile. You're really smiling. That's you. That's really you. You're really a nice person." Well I didn't know what else to do but thank her. I understood what she was saying. And it made me feel good, yet it also made me feel a bit uncomfortable too. Why did she harp on that? Aren't we all nice? Don't we all mean it when we smile?
Well obviously not. A few days later, this person, Cleopatra Ecstasy to be exact, began a slow well thought out strategy that left me broke and penniless and her wealthy and owning every cent I had ever earned and saved in my entire life less than a year later. Her method was easy and quite transparent looking back on it now. All she had to do was trust in my being nice. She knew I would never do anything "not nice". Even if she did. She also knew that I wouldn't tell her any untruths. Nor deceive her in any way. Even if she did. She also knew that no matter how many times she lied to me or did me harm that all she had to do was apologize and I would forgive her. If she promised not to do it again, she knew I would believe her. It took less than six months for her to abscond with everything I owned. Bank accounts, credit cards, cash accounts, real estate, stock and other equities, and even a multi-million dollar multi-national business that she then sold for a small fortune. In the end I could do nothing about it except take my medicine like a man and begin again.
Which is where I sit today. Five years into beginning again. The funny thing is that instead of jading me or making me cynical and hard, if anything it made me an even nicer person. I don't know why exactly. I suppose that's a topic for another story of exploration. Through that experience I learned many things. One of them being that there are some truly not-nice people in the world. Regardless of whether or not you're nice or not. I also learned that there is no true justice in the universe in relation to any kind of karmic return on your niceness when dealing with others who are not nice. If you're a nice person, don't look for a payoff for it from people who aren't like you. Your payoff is how you feel inside. Nothing more. The not nice people of the world aren't going to turn over a new leaf from your example like in some Hollywood movie and start being nice to you. They are who they are. And we can't change them.
          What we can do though is mix a bit of brains with our niceness and use discernment to protect ourselves from these kinds of predators who prey on the kindness and good nature of genuinely nice people. We can still be nice to them. But from a distance. We cannot make the mistake of believing that just because we are nice we are somehow protected; nor can we allow ourselves to self sabotage by placing ourselves in harm's way through associating with people who are not nice hoping it may rub off on them. It usually doesn't. In fact, it usually just gets us hurt or taken advantage of. And for that, we are guilty of being foolhardy. Nice, but just not very smart.
But I learned something else from the experience too. Going from rich to poor, from a lavish lifestyle to homeless wasn't easy. It was downright scary. But I was never without help. In fact if I ever wanted proof that being nice pays off in a multitude of ways that we can never imagine, I got that proof ten times over through experiencing so much help during those first few years of going back up to hero from zero that I myself was even able to help others at the same time. And from a position of being flat broke and homeless. It showed me that nice guys don't always finish last. They may fall into last place every now and then, maybe even more than other people, just through the inherent vulnerability of being nice. But as miraculous as it may seem, we're back on top in no time. Call it God, angels, the flow of the universe, good karma, or simply the practical result of what you do comes back to you - a physical action-reaction mechanism.
          But being nice does pay off. Not just in how good we feel when we wake up everyday, but also in how our lives tend to play out. Of course this means that we have to keep on our toes and keep remembering to focus our attention on deliberately being a nice person. Luckily for all of us, as with most things, practice make perfect. The more we do it the easier it gets. And soon it's just our natural state. But there is always room for improvement. Like I said, encountering nice people in the world usually just makes me feel remember how much nice I still can be. And I think that's a good thing. I get the feeling there's probably no limit to how nice we can be.

Why America Can't Trust Democrats, Republicans or Communists

2012-05-25T01:14:00.000-04:00

     A member of a Facebook Page I started for Independent Voters asked us to Share an article he wrote. At first read, it seemed obvious that it would make no sense to post it because it has a hard-right, conservative agenda and therefore would not be relevant to a Page dedicated to Independent-minded American voters. But we are posting it as he requested. Why? Because it illustrates exactly what is wrong with the "two-party system" way of thinking in America today. If you ever find yourself asking "can I trust the accuracy of what this person is saying when it comes to government or socio-political ideas?" ask yourself a simple question: are they a Democrat or Republican? If so, if either, then the answer is "no".
     Someone who has deliberately chosen to place themselves in one box that is ideologically illogical over another box that is equally ideologically illogical always has an agenda that is not being voiced, a very specific agenda: i.e. to see "their Party" win. Therefore their ideas are filtered through and skewed by this desire to win. They may believe that "their way" is the right way for the country, so no one can doubt their claim to sincerely love their country and want what's best for it. No one should take that away from them. But their agenda, their desire to see their party win, is what drives their thought processes. Any viewpoints or ideas they share will inherently lean either heavily or at best slightly more in the direction of the propaganda and dogma of their chosen political party -- rather than in the direction of logical pragmatic and rational thought for "what is best". It is no different than if someone voluntarily claimed to be a Communist or a Fascist for that matter. They are all boxes with agendas to win. Not to "do what is best."

     Their loyalty will always be to their desire to be on the winning side, to be right, rather than to what is best for the country they are a citizen of. An Independent Voter is someone who has found their way out of the box. If they freely claim to have no loyalty to any political party but to only desire what is best for their country, then they have a much better chance of sharing information that is unbiased, factual and accurate, as well as offering ideas and viewpoints that are free from indoctrination and therefore perhaps valuable.
     In a very short time, more Americans will register as Independents than either of the two historically traditional political parties in the United States. Soon after that, the Independents will out-number both Parties combined. Of course, what the Independents will do with that majority is still an unknown and up for grabs. But I dare say it will not look like what we have today. And for a variety of reasons that will be a very good thing for the United States of America.

Germany Joins the Personal Expression Revolution

2012-05-23T23:19:00.000-04:00

     Last night Princess Little Tree and I were speaking about the incredible shifts we have seen in global democratization over the last two years. Specifically in the context of the book I have been working on along with a few others for the last five years entitled We Are The Revolution - Welcome to the Age of Personal Expression, [we refer to it as PE for short when discussing it]. Years and years of research has been poured into the work, with a host of brilliant minds contributing to it's content.
   We were talking about the last chapter, entitled Dream On, which discusses the ramifications of the Personal Expression Age and what it might bring forth in the near future. How just a few short years ago in late 2007 when we were really pounding out the research (and the hours) I had proposed that the Personal Expression Age has the potential to not just bring people closer together and transform every industry on planet earth in order to make the world a more people-friendly environment, rather than greed, government or corporate friendly, but that in the near future we would see full on peoples' revolutions of entire governments around the world. Bear in mind this was 2007 and the idea seemed absolutely outlandish. A dream. An ideal. A vision of something that could happen, inevitably would happen, but in the "future". We did not attach a date to when this potentiality might come into being. But I was sure that once the PEA swung into full gear that it was an inevitable ramification of the age.
     Of course we were thrilled at the thought of it, but were sure it was something that we would see in the "far away" future. Ten years. Twenty years. It was very much an ideal, as opposed to a formidable reality, at that point. Needless to say, when we saw the first country, Tunisia, go down in what has now become known as the Arab Spring, all of us involved in the project just stood there with our mouths hanging open. We must have spoken about this exact event for hundreds of hours while we paced the room back and forth contemplating and discussing the ramifications of things to come in what we term the Personal Expression Revolution. We knew it would happen, or at least hoped it would; but we didn't know when. That's why we titled the chapter Dream On. The rest of the book is filled with the research about the shifts and changes we were either already seeing take place all over the world in various different industries, or that we proposed would soon take place. But the idea that the Personal Expression Age once in overdrive would transform entire nations from fascist oligarchies into people's democratic republics still seemed like a dream at best.

   And yet there it was. Right in front of our eyes. And a mere three and four years after predicting it. Not ten to twenty. Then came Egypt. And Libya. Etc. Over the last few months I have been reworking the last chapter to take into account what has transpired over the last two years in order to incorporate the profound changes we have seen take place around the world now that the Personal Expression Age has swung into full motion, or overdrive. The basic premise of the last chapter now is predicated on the fact that as far back as 2007 the Age was already presenting clues that full on peoples' revolutions of entire countries would soon be possible. And further, the question we now have to ask is not whether or not the Age of Personal Expression will make full scale revolutions of entire nation states by the people for the people possible, nor when that might happen. Because we have already witnessed this happen. Numerous times over the last two years. Years before we proposed it possible. Instead the question we should be asking ourselves now is how MUCH potential does the Age really possess in terms of overcoming any grand scale limitations our global society's collective consciousness might still be holding onto.
   In other words, what are the larger obstacles we see as a people that are still in our way to making the world an entirely people-friendly place to live that seem absolutely insurmountable? Five years ago we believed that as bold beautiful and idealistic a dream as it was, full on revolutions of countries by the people was still a pretty far fetched notion. We even feared that the mere mention of it as a probability might endanger the more concrete theories proposed in the rest of the book. Now we know that we were right on. In fact, if anything we were behind schedule and underestimated the power and potential of the Age. But now that we have seen it bring about tremendous change in the Middle East and Africa, what about North Korea? Iran? The United States? China? Russia?
     See? The idea seems ludicrous. NOW. How on earth will the American people or the Chinese or Russian people ever be able to harness enough power to take back control of THEIR countries? A little country like Tunisia? Sure. But Iran? The U.S.? North Korea? A new American revolution? Really? In our lifetime? And yet we held the same belief about any people from any country being able to overthrow their government just a mere five years ago when first outlining the last chapter of the book. So now we have a new dream. We now know that if people, any people, come together for an aligned cause and take full advantage of the tools and technologies of the Personal Expression Age that ANYTHING is possible. We've seen it first hand in numerous industries and areas of our lives across the globe, all of which are discussed in detail in the book. And we've now seen it affect entire governments in a way we only dreamed about a short time ago.
   The photograph above was taken on May 19th, 2012 in Frankfurt, Germany. It came with some captioning that I will paste below as is. A big congratulations is due to the German people. They've got a seemingly tough road ahead of them, as do many of Earth's countries it would appear. The bigger the country the tougher it seems it may be for the people to affect major change. But this photograph speaks more about where we are headed in the Personal Expression Revolution -- whether it's Occupy or the Tea Party, Germany, Canada, Greece or Finland -- than any words could. Hats off to the German police. Let us hope that the rest of the world is watching.

Caption to the photograph above: From Occupy Frankfurt. May 19, 2012.
The German police took off their helmets and marched with the protest clearing the way for them. The police coming over to serve and protect the people... Blockupy Frankfurt. Police are escorting, not participating. Reports of an estimated 20,000+ protesters. Nice to see their faces.... and their humanity coming through... WATCH THIS VIDEO: #blockupy. Frankfurt
http://youtu.be/5ebC8_q0zCM German police officers escort an anti-capitalism protest march with some 20,000 people in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, May 19, 2012. Protesters peacefully filled the city center of continental Europe's biggest financial hub in their protest against the dominance of banks and what they perceive to be untamed capitalism, Frankfurt police spokesman Ruediger Regis said. The protest group calling itself Blockupy has called for blocking the access to the European Central Bank, which is located in Frankfurt's business district. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
source: http://www.globalwinnipeg.com/world/20000+people+march+at+a+frankfurt+occupy+protest+german+police/6442644693/story.html

Photo/news source: http://www.660news.com/news/world/article/364434--german-police-says-some-10-000-are-marching-at-a-frankfurt-occupy-protest-rally

Associated Press Photo verified: http://www.globalwinnipeg.com/world/20000+people+march+at+a+frankfurt+occupy+protest+german+police/6442644693/story.html

(Photographer AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Wall Street journal Verified
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303360504577414370915099252.html

Washington Post verified
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/german-police-says-some-10000-are-marching-at-a-frankfurt-occupy-protest-rally/2012/05/19/gIQA3uTfaU_story.html

Good Company

2012-05-20T03:11:00.001-04:00

"My idea of good company is the company of clever, well informed people who have a great deal of conversation."
-- Jane Austen

U.S. Begins Secretly Bombing Yemen in a Third War

2012-05-10T14:23:00.000-04:00

Not that it's a huge surprise... But of course the thing that strikes hardest about news such as this is that the American media hasn't covered it at all. Instead all we hear about hear in The States is "who's gonna win the big race..." for President that is. The American media treats that like a sports competition while the government is systematically killing innocent people in a country that most of us have never even heard of, let alone didn't know we were at war with. President Barack Obama ordered the first bombing strike on Yemen in 2009, on a small town of only villagers. The strike killed 46 people, all of them civilians comprised mostly of women, children and the elderly. Five of the women were pregnant. Unfortunately it was only the first of many such covert strikes by the Obama led United States military against the country of Yemen in America's continued "war on terror". The video below is well done and reveals many of the details related to this latest and shocking news.

SONG OF SPARROWS

2012-04-28T05:19:00.001-04:00

SONG OF SPARROWS from 2008 is yet another brilliant and moving film from Iran. Another in a long line of examples of what has become a somewhat surprising constant over the last twenty years: Iran produces excellent movies. If you liked last year's Academy Award winning Best Foreign Language film A SEPARATION, then you've already gotten a taste of it. For whatever reason, Iranian films bring something to the big screen that is rarely seen in filmmaking from any country today. Seemingly unconcerned with reproducing or competing with big budget Hollywood blockbusters, instead Iranian movies tend to be simple, sincere and authentic portraits of humanity with a realness we've not seen in cinema since post-World War II Italian films such as those by Roberto Rossalinni. Whether or not Iranian filmmakers are deliberately attempting to start their own version of 'Neorealism' or are even aware of the reverred style is not known for sure -- it certainly wouldn't be something they could admit freely under the tightly controlled and watchful eyes of the Islamic Republic's Minister of Culture -- as all Western art and entertainment including film and music is banned in modern day Iran. I myself had the honor of meeting with the Minister of Culture in his office in Tehran in 2008 to discuss a possible musical collaboration with famed Taar recording artist Hussein Alizadeh, and by the end of the meeting felt sadly dissappointed and quite sure that none such collaboration would be permitted under the current laws simply because I am a Western musical artist....

Regardless of restrictions such as these every year Iran still manages to create and release a variety of intelligent engrossing and moving films that usually always make the Short Lists of all major film critics from just about every country. Even the United States. In fact definitely the United States. Hollywood, for lack of interest in politics, or oil, is smack dab in the middle of a regular old fashioned love affair with contemporay Iranian filmmaking. As it should be. I've yet to see one movie made in Iran over the last ten years that hasn't been excellent. SONG OF SPARROWS, as BARAN, A SEPARATION or BRIDE OF FIRE all equally exemplify. This trend does more than just illistrate the obvious, that the 4000 year old Persian people are some of the deepest most poetic hearts and minds on earth today (they're are after all responsible for giving us Saadi, Rumi, Haafez and Omar Khayam); it also shows what determined artists can do when willing in the face of more than discouraging odds and strict limitations. If you're a film afficionado, or a lover of great art of any kind, check out just about anything celluloid from Iran from the last ten to twenty years. You won't be dissappointed. And don't let the deceptively simple story-line summaries fool or discourage you from making the leap. That's part of these movies' charm. They weave surprisingly deep and profound meaning out of the most seemingly simple plots. And that's what gives modern Iranian cinema it's ever growing popularity and it's lasting appeal.

A Simple Prayer

2012-04-14T02:49:00.001-04:00

Dear God please help and guide me to become the man I've always known I should be, that I've always hoped I could be and that you've always known I would be. Amen

What Will it Take for All of Humanity to THRIVE? Watch This Movie Now!

2012-04-11T18:03:00.001-04:00

       Yep. Yours truly finally got the chance to sit down and watch some of the movie THRIVE that everyone has been buzzing about over the last few months. I must say right upfront that if this kind of thing just happens to be your "kind of thing" then, like myself, you aren't necessarily going to find anything new in this film. But you'll love it just the same. I myself can now sleep. For the first time since observing and predicting that we were shifting into a new age, one I started calling "The Personal Expression Age" in 2004 for the book bearing the same title, I feel like I have finally seen something that truly has the potential to push us over the edge. So yes, it's that important. Regardless of how much of it you may already know. It's a damn good flick. One that has the potential to turn into an even cooler movement, or even better help the many movements already in existence continue to grow and expand.
      We already know who not so secretly (except to the masses) controls planet earth, that UFOs exist and are being hidden from the mainstream by the governing few, that the 9/11 attacks on the US were an inside job and a hoax perpetrated to start several wars for oil and Middle East dominance, that various free energy machines have existed since at least the early part of the 20th Century and that all you have to do is follow the money to see clearly that through surreptitious private banking cartels disguised as government treasury departments (The Federal Reserve), corrupt Big Oil companies, the so-called "world religions", medical schools and health insurance systems designed and controlled by giant pharmaceutical companies with ignoble intentions and a few very wealthy and powerful families (Warburgs, Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Carnegies, et al.) and other power hungry groups (the British Royals, the Vatican) humankind is being controlled in a not so secret anymore pretend-democracy and has been for centuries. Cont.

       So... It's all an illusion so to speak, all these freedoms and liberties that free peoples everywhere believe they've got, and we're still at best slaves to invisible rulers and perhaps even beings from other planets. The jury is still out on that last bit. But the story is the same. Whether it's David Icke, Edgar Mitchel or Alex Jones, there's not much in THRIVE that we don't already know about.
      But don't let that stop you from watching this excellent movie. What makes the film worth watching is the fact that it does present the information in a new and relatively less "conspiracy theory" manner and it also features more mainstream guest speakers than the usual "let us turn you on to what's really going on" type of underground films and documentaries that have come out over the last thirty years. It's professional. Top notch. Grade A. A big budget production. Not a bunch of Birky-wearing dread-having vegans shouting at the top of their lungs that they want a revolution but they don't know how their going to revolt without killing us all and sending us into an economic depression. Foster Gamble and his wife (the film's creators) are well-thought out, responsible, intelligent and compassionate people. Frankly they make people like Alex Jones seem like ego-maniacal fruit loops. So from the Transcendence Diaries perspective, the recommendation is WATCH THIS MOVIE AS SOON AS YOU CAN. You'll have a much better understanding of why the world around you is so messed up and why everything that seems to get done for the good in the world happens through people movements rather than through governments.
      [On that point, regarding those inevitable last hold-outs who will invariably assert this last point is bs because "the United States gives more money to other countries in foreign aid than any other country on earth or in history", let us also remember that the United States government ONLY does so IF the recipient country has already signed over their sovereignty and control over to the United States and has agreed to do whatever the Great Democratic Super-power has demanded of them regarding everything from their military to their water to their votes in the United Nations. Do your research. Keep digging and reading long enough and even the most patriotic among us will eventually see how it all works.]
      Nope, it's not good news. In fact it's downright sad and disturbing to know what's what and who's who on planet earth. But the good news IS there, in movies like THRIVE and many others currently circling throughout the Personal Expression Age arena. People Power, we have now seen through the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movements exploding around the globe, CAN make a difference. One day "we the people" will truly self-govern -- as our founding fathers and mothers once intended us to. It's only a matter of time. As the Ambassador likes to say though, "If you're not on the way, then you're in the way." So don't be alarmed if you get passed you by or run over. We've all been warned. Numerous times. This isn't the golden old days pre-internet. Anyone with half a brain by now has at least heard what's really going on. Any last hold-outs just need to continue to be fed the truth and not the TV, radio, newspapers, magazines or any other forms of mainstream media.

Mike Wallace You Will Be Remembered and Revered For Many Years to Come

2012-04-08T14:50:00.000-04:00

It's household news by now in the United States at least that 60 Minutes News Anchorman Mike Wallace passed away this past weekend. He hosted the show for more than 40 years and before that he was a host, announcer, journalist and even an actor since the mid-1950s. I personally have such a strong sense of Mike Wallace within me that it almost feels as though he is family, having grown up my entire life watching him every Sunday evening on television talk the tough talk and ask the tough questions that no one else dared to ask but we all dreamed we would if we were ever in such a position ourselves. Much like Peter Jennings before him, who lived just a few blocks away from us here in Manhattan and whose children went to school with a few of my close friends, Mike Wallace's passing marks another milestone in what appears symbolically like the death of real journalism. The kind Edward R. Murrow and even the less serious minded but equally sincere Jack Parr and Dick Cavett used to also represent to the world.

It is after all a new Age in Communications. Shock and Awe are the tools of today's journalistic trade, not honest journalism of value and integrity. There are reasons for this. Primarily the fact that due to technological advances, and the advent of the Personal Expression Age in general, we now face such an overwhelming abundance of information outlets and vehicles so numerous that the goal has switched from "quality and substance in news reporting" to "gaining the public's attention through any and all means necessary". This is more than unfortunate for us all. It is hard to discern what real news is anymore. But that's for another story later on down the road. For today, let us just remember that men like Mike Wallace and his colleagues at 60 Minutes did exist, and still do today. We will always remember their many great contributions to our lives through both information and entertainment.

Police Station Strip Searches Legal in the United States?

2012-04-06T03:18:00.001-04:00

A recent question posed from an anonymous visitor: "Doesn't everyone think that the only reason that the supreme court said it was OK for anyone arrested and taken to a police station in the United States to be strip-searched is so they can abuse the occupy people?!?"

     Though I'd love to agree with you, I would have to lean towards a more yes and no. The Supreme Court has had a relatively remarkable history of being surprisingly neutral in many cases throughout it's history. Though the historical stain caused by their (some might say) illegal and unconstitutional divergence from the election process by usurping the American peoples' power to choose the president by (s)electing GW Bush as the president of the United States themselves in the year 2000 is a dirty and deeply dug-in one; and perhaps signaled a change for the worse that we may never see shift back. As much as many feel that the Court shifts coyly left and right ala politics as usual between the two-party system that's taken over US government based on which judges happen to be registered Democrats or Republicans, they often come to uncannily fair and unbiased decisions on occasion.
      One could also argue that with the current threat of terrorism on US soil so glaringly eminent due to at least three overtly illegal invasions and deadly wars in foreign countries over the last ten years, that the need to be allowed to strip search anyone seen caught or suspected of any sort of trouble making is high right now, and maybe even downright necessary. This of course begs the question "just who started all this? Regarding the continuously increasing questionable event they refer to as 9/11. But regardless of who did what or how or when on that fateful day, the United States government's reaction(s) to it have caused more ammunition or "righteous just cause" for terror attacks against the US, in retaliation for these acts, than possibly any country in the history of human civilization. Thus "possible future terrorist attacks on US soil" seem more than just questionable, and rather more like downright definite. More a question of when rather than "possible?".
      If one views things with this in mind, from a more global perspective, historically looking forward in order to look back in time to the present day or near future, the United States seems to be acting quite lax in its stated attempt at "Homeland Security". Hence strip searches don't seem like that big of a sacrifice to make on all our parts if it might possibly prevent major damage or harm to a large majority of us or even a few. Granted, someone clearly American out protesting for the Occupy Movement shouldn't necessarily be treated like a suspected terrorist, no one "should" be. Except for the fact that so many "normal looking white Americans" have 'gone postal' over the last ten years shooting up schools and various other public places for no apparent reason and with no warning whatsoever.

       Unfortunately what the US government has created, whether deliberately or not, is a world gone mad environment and mentality in America where even the sweetest old lady carrying a baby and smelling like fresh apple pie may turn out to be a crazy revenge seeking turncoat who's lost her marbles and wants to blow some people up. Strip searches? Sheesh. We should be doing a lot more than that. And I say that personally coming from an extremely liberal if not radical view of life on earth life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But reality here is, sadly, what it is. It just isn't the quaint 1950s America anymore.
      We've got a melting pot of every race ethnicity age color and religion in America, all of whom call themselves "American". Tens of millions of them not even really American at all (which is another issue entirely but pushes the dire need for more heightened security point even further). Whether it's an American gone mad for some unknown reason (which we see way too frequently now), or a non-American seeking revenge who's only (legally or illegally) visiting or pretending to be American, it's clear that it's become impossible to tell what a potential "terrorist" looks like in the United States of America. Indeed we've got internal terrorist attacks being perpetrated here now on a near monthly basis by regular old baseball loving fellow Americans on each other. And all these daily chest pounding threats of war and invading even more countries everyday by our (s)elected leaders is just continuing to stoke the fires of anger rage and hostility against us all as a people and a nation.
      Yes, it's more than sad. But if we are serious about protecting ourselves and our loved ones and neighbors, then permitting strip searches at police stations is the least that we can do until we reshape this government of ours into a more decent, respectful and diplomatic one.

New Alexandra Pelosi Documentary Flops

2012-03-17T19:11:00.001-04:00

In a venture that could have had enormous potential to educate and heal, and a fortuitous forum of value (HBO and the Real Time with Bill Maher Show) to reach millions of viewers, Alexandra Pelosi (yes she's the daughter of former Speaker of the US House of Representatives) instead created a documentary that interviews the worst examples and extreme minorities of both the Republican and Democratic Parties.

In a worthless effort with not even much entertainment value and a perplexing waste of resources, the self described "documentary filmmaker" shot footage of Republican radicals from the deep rural South of Mississippi who "vote God first", have no teeth, can barely speak English and are overtly racist. In other words, blatantly poor uneducated folk with low intelligence who just happen to vote Republican. All joking aside, clearly Avery small minority of that political party.

Even less effort went into her attempt at revealing what the Democratic side of American politics looks like. She simply walked down the stairs of her New York apartment building and captured interview footage of a line of uneducated black men waiting to enter the food stamp and welfare office, all of whom claimed to not be interested in getting jobs, barely had any teeth, held a strong desire to suck up as much free money from the Federal government as possible, and all conveniently stated they are going to vote for Obama.

If Pelosi was trying to prove a point, other than how important it is not to allow wealthy politicians' children to play with cameras, it got lost in her filmmaking process. Every intelligent person in the United States of America knows that all political parties of the world have small minority groups of uneducated crazies in them. It's a free country here in the US and that just comes with our inclusionary territory.

We all know there are idiots and racists in the US who might not vote for Barack Obama simply because he's racially half black or they're so dumb that they think he's Muslim (as if that in and of itself mattered either). Just as we all know that there is a small minority of people for whatever reason who don't feel any compunction admitting that they take advantage of America's generous welfare policies. But we also know that these groups do not make up the majority of either political party. In fact they don't make up the majority of anything. They're fringe elements of a large and varied global melting pot society. We also know for example that there are plenty of people in America who genuinely need welfare and/or foodstamps right now. And it's not because they're black or lazy or wanting to take advantage of anyone. Times are just tough.

Reinforcing already established but generally understood stereotypes on the extreme of both sides of the fence accomplishes nothing but adding more fuel to an already nearly out of control partisan fire; one that enlightened folks across the board have been trying for years to extinguish with patience, education, open mindedness and tolerance. What excites and intrigues about a documentary like the idea of this one is the potential of listening to what the intelligent views of both sides are; and everything in between.

A film like that could potentially have a very educating and healing effect on our splintered social fabric. It's something we desperately need in this divisive post-Bush/Cheney era when our worst fears like terrorist attacks are being over shadowed by graver concerns like how we are going to pay for our rent or mortgages next month or put food on our tables tomorrow. As long as cretins like Pelosi or opportunists like most politicians keep the populace focused on minor differences between us such as racist views or religious issues in politics, most people will never wake up to realize that the real 'us versus them' has a lot more to do with the 1% verus the 99% than it does birth control or food stamps.

On Recording the Song "Scene in San Francisco"

2012-03-16T15:02:00.000-04:00

Originally from Facebook:
Yes, this is true, re Fernando Perdomo's comments above. And it speaks volumes about the often misunderstood and under-rated SoFlo/Miami music scene. Although slightly and temporarily misplaced and displaced geographically and/or demographically, the Miami music scene harbors some of the greatest undiscovered talent in the US. (I am now, sometimes sadly I admit, much less a part of any 'one' specific local music scene, but they're still an important element to a musician no matter how national or "successful" they become) And I know. Because I strangely & happily belong to three: Miami, New York, and Seattle -- all of which are uniquely special and amazing in their own right. When I start recording a new album, I still handpick the majority of the players from the old gang, down in Miami. If they've winced moved from Miami, we fly them back in. Maybe it's just nostalgia, or sentimentality... But I'd say that the love that we're basking in right now from all over the world based on the Ballad On Third Avenue and All Your Heroes Become Villains albums proves that it's gotta be more than just sentimental familiarity. Truth is, miami's music scene is as vibrant behind the scenes as its ever been. Thousands of brilliant musicians filled with passion and exploding with a love and knowledge of music from all over the globe. It just happens to be in the wrong place geographically right "now", now being the operating word; for there was a time when the Mismi music scene was all the rage and every weekend you could hop into at least ten different rock clubs after midnight on South Beach, listen to more than a handful of incredible bands and bump into any and every major record label talent scout in America, all of whom were down there for that exact reason, Miami music was smokin hot and they were down there to grab some. Ironically it was soon eclipsed by Seattle's scene. And then entirely replaced by dance music and the Latin music scene that dominates it now. But it still didn't kill off all the poppers and rockers. Me and the guys could have recorded the "Ballad..." album -- where the songs "I Walk Alone", "New Orleans Dreams" and "Scene in San Francisco" come from -- anywhere. But we chose Fernando's garage. It's home. It's meatloaf comfort food. With some Nerds sprinkled on top and a handful of Twizzlers on the side. And it also happens to be home to some of the greatest musicians I know. Greg Byers, Tony Medina, Roger Houdaille, Zach Ziskin, Mazzi Ricardo, Matthew Sabatella, Jorge Moreno, Enrique', Amanda Green, Tony Antonio Landa, Oski, Big Brooklyn Red, Jim Camacho, Derek Cintron, Sean 'birdman' Gould, Nil Lara, the list is obviously endless...
Now of course, things are getting a bit crazy. Apple and iTunes called US yesterday. ...
Along with Microsoft, Amazon, Sirius XM, Yahoo Music, Billboard etc. And that's all really really groovy. All because of one or two magnificent little songs recorded on a beat up old PC running a hacked copy of Protools in a dusty garage covered in old food and candy wrappers and plastic cups that once held cafe' con leches, with musicians who were willing to come in at all hours of the day and night and lay down their tracks most of the time for free while Fernando's mom (God bless her) incessantly texted us to "please keep it down boys". And why? We weren't making any money. And God knows we didnt expect to, because we never have in any real measurable sense of the word. But instead it was because we are all addicted to making music. With each other. With anyone. It's the highest high I know of, watching Zach or Fern pull out a blazing guitar solo from nowhere, watching Roger hunched over a bass too big for his small frame weild magic bouncing booming notes that bring solidity to everything above it, or Derek or Ricky bash their drums like rock-gods, or stepping in front of the microphone with Matt and hearing him create and pull off a beautifully perfect vocal harmony right in front of my eyes. It's like magic. Real magic. Because there isn't any "gotcha" at the end of the show. What comes out is real. There's no illusion or trick. Just really dedicated musicians who've sacrificed everything else in their lives to become really great at what they do. That's the ah ha. The payoff. Everything else from here on out is like extra whip cream. It's awesome. Keep it coming. But it's the making of the music that really juices us in the end I think. And yeah, for Miami music, hell yeah this is great. For indie musicians working on a shoestring budget and a prayer in every city... That dream is real. Remember that.

Israel Bombs Home of Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney for Harboring Iranians

2012-03-13T05:57:00.000-04:00

Shocking news today. In what the UN called "one of the worst military blunders in history", Israel dropped two bombs at 4:30am local time, one each on the homes of Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, killing 48 people in total, most of them Romney's numerous wives (He's a Mormon) and Santorum's 17 children (he's Catholic and doesn't believe in contraception). Both candidates luckily were out on the campaign trail and thus saved from the deadly attacks. Israel had received intelligence, from the same source who had ten years prior supplied the United States government with information that Iraq had made several large purchases of "yellow cake to make weapons of mass destruction from Africa", that Romney and Santorum had several Iranian guests staying at their homes for weeks and that the candidates were in fact spies for the country of Iran and were planning an attack on Israel any day due to the fact that both men "were lifelong members of the NRA and had several "guns" in their homes, clearly a red flag that the State of Israel's demise was imminent if they didn't act quickly. When asked about the horrendous events later, both candidates stated that "although they would miss their wives and children very much, that they harbored no bad feelings towards Israel, that they backed Israel up one hundred and ten percent to defend themselves and saw absolutely no reason for Israel to apologize for the mistake they made, citing that it would imply weakness, something that a proud and powerful nation cannot afford to do in times of war and such rampant global terrorism." Republican mouthpiece and last place contestant on the hit TV series The Biggest Loser, Rush Limbaugh, telephoned both candidates to offer his condolences to the men reportedly saying "Better this way guys if you really want to win that White House. You know Mitt's wife was a slut."
Today I almost cried talking during an interview to a journalist about how terrifying it is is to have family in Iran and hear how casually arrogantly and ignorantly these GOP candidates speak about militarily attacking this beautiful country, as if they haven't a clue what they are saying, with no apparant human heart or public acknowledgement that there are living breathing people living there. They speak about being "pro-life" but with their views on capital punishment and pro-war stances it is highly unlikely that any of them know what being pro-life truly means. I cannot imagine how my wife feels every time our phone rings and it is one of her parents on the other end of the line. We never know if it's going to be "that call". The one where they tell us drone aircraft have begun bombing the beautiful city of Tehran where she grew up.
I agree with John McGlaughlin and Mort Zucerman's appraisal this Sunday of President Obama's speech as one of the best, wisest, most intelligent speeches weve ever heard from a US president. And no, he isnt "appeasing" "the enemy". Wise words when he spoke of the importance of taking a serious look at and intelligent comsideration of all the ramifications of the potential for human loss on both sides. Listening to these local yocal repubs beat their chest about how if they were president they would send troops into Iran or bomb their nuclear facilities sounds a lot like innocently dumb little children talking shit because they dont no any better. With dumb children we recognize their weaknesses, use patience and wisdom and mature guidance to help them eventually grow up into a responsible adults. With dumb politicians we elect them to serve and lead us. Go figure.
It amazes that they still wonder, as Time magazine asked on a recent cover, why no one likes Romney... It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. It seems the only person asking the question as Time magazine reported is Romney himself. No one asks that about Santorum because its just so plain obvious, along with the fact that he will never be a US president, no one wants to rub it in or hurt his feelings... And thats the decent thing to do. But for God's sake man, stop talking about killing people in the same breath as you speak about respect for life and liberty. He truly gives Christians, and Americans, a bad rap. And unfairly so. No one who practices the Christian faith regularly according to the words and works of JC as told in the four out of approximately twenty actual Gospels the wicked Roman Empire (by then calling itself "the church") allowed to stay in the Bible would find it easy to reconcile classifying Santorum "one of us". It is also why so many people have turned away from religion, of all kinds, this type of extremism, and helps explain why so many Americans register as Independents now.
As an Independent myself, who is slightly fearful of Obama - and therefore not a huge fan, I can at least say I admire his bold willingness to be the only person standing up and saying what the majority of normal folks are thinking. We don't want anymore bloodshed. On either side. We don't want anymore 22 year old American kids coming home dead in body bags. And we are all very tired of this incessant march toward war (whether literally or rhetorically) in the name of ________(fill in the blank/flavor of the month excuse ever since 9/11) to try to show you're a tough guy. Real tough guys are very reluctant to start or send anyone off to war because they've been there and they know what a horror it is; and how ultimately no one wins in the end. Everyone loses. And what we lose besides respect and dignity is life itself. Diplomacy can work. Not always. But we are not being attacked or even threatened. And therefore it is a non-issue right now. Not to mention the fact that we are already doing great harm to millions of people through those economic sanctions.
I would just love to see in our lifetime someone do this to us, here, now, so some of these people could have a real world experience of what it's like to be bullied in such a fashion day in and day out, so they thought more before they speak or take action.
I also find it sad and insulting that not one of these people who speak of the danger of "Iran's nuclear threat" have ever been to Iran, spoken to the Iranian government, or know anything about their nuclear program, let alone their reasons for it. Which I'll cover in more detail in a future post in the Transcendene Diaries. But as both Presidents Ahmadinejad and Khatami told me in person, "Don't you find it ironic that the primary opponent to our country's desire to build nuclear energy facilities, claiming that if we have this technology we will use it build nuclear weapons in order to attack others, is the only country in human history to ever use nuclear bombs against another nation? Killing over half a million innocent people?" A powerful question. But no sir, not ironic. More like ELUCIDATING.
The other thing that bothers everyone who has had the privilege to go to Iran and meet with their government and talk about their nuclear energy plans, is that no one who speaks about wanting to bomb Iran to destroy their nuclear plants has ever spoken to anyone in their government about it, nor attended a conference by the IAEA to discuss it. They're going on hearsay at best; or worse and more likely, talking out of their ass in a lame attempt to appease certain small groups of radicals or Political Action Committees or dumb Americans filled with fear and loathing for anything not American.
I have had this privilege, and after attending a conference held by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Tehran -- attended by over sixty other countries around the world who do not oppose Iran's sovereign right to harness nuclear energy for themselves, I walked away with many thoughts and opinions. Some mixed. But fear was not one of the feelings I walked away with. In order to speak about something I believe one should have actual experience or at least knowledge about the subject, or else it's just hot air, or worse, a very stupid and dangerous person taking up valuable time and oxygen. In future posts I will share what I did walk away feeling and thinking.
Fact: There are more Jews living in moder day Iran than in any other country in the world today EXCEPT for Israel. (considering how many Jews live in the United States, this is probably a per capita statistic, or refers only to the Middle East). They are not Muslim or Islamic. They are Jewish. They practice Judaism. They have more synagogues there than anywhere in the middle east. They are happy. They are even allowed to drink wine during their service because they have freedom of religion, even though non-Jewish Iranians are not allowed to drink alcohol. The same goes for Christians. We visited many synagogues as well as Christian churches. What none of the war Mongering Republican candidates or politicians or others will ever bother to tell the American people is that if we bomb Iran we will be killing Jews, Christians, Buddhists AND Muslims. Along with Sufis, Hindus, and Zorastrians as well. Things are never as they seem in politics, especially American politics where the country is so young that the people have not yet toppled the government a few times to teach them who's really boss. It's all tricks and mirrors, puppets and circus acts. With the media playing into it nearly as much for ratings and access.
I'll never forget being in a synagogue in Iran after celebrating a Friday sabbath service and being surrounded by about a dozen beautiful little angelic Jewish Iranian girls... All of them about ages six to twelve. A middle aged man peeked into our little circle and introduced himself. I looked up at him and asked "Are you happy here sir?" "Yes, very much my friend. Did you enjoy the service?" "Yes I did. Thank you. Let me ask you, you're free here? You can practice judaism freely, and be a Jew? And you aren't afraid or anything?" "Why would I be afraid? You Americans..." he laughed. I felt embarrassed by how misinformed we are in the United States. "If you are free, then why don't you leave? Why don't you go to Israel?" I asked. It was an honest question, or so I thought. "Leave?!" he responded almost angrily, "why would I leave? This is my home. This is my country. I am Jewish. But I am Iranian. There is no difference between the two except my religion."
Obviously I could do or say no more but just sheepishly smile. Lesson learned. more later. Peace Love Freedom Beauty Humor and Happiness,
The Ambassador

Live From Daryl's House -- Inside the Indie Music Revolution

2012-03-11T19:05:00.000-04:00

LIVE FROM DARYL's HOUSE. Who would've imagined it 20 years ago? Or even 10? Daryl Hall of HALL AND OATES fame hires a camera crew and starts his own reality TV series on the internet -- inviting musicians of all ilk, primarily singers, to come to his righteous pad and jam with him and a stellar band while people film it. The series was already 40 shows in when I first heard about it. But that's not saying much. I tend to be the last to know when it comes to these kinds of things actually. I once heard Eric Clapton say that one of the many "worst things about being a recording artist, especially being a touring one, is that you never get to see other musicians perform live because you're always on the road." I was taken by surprise when i first heard that. But it made sense as I got older and started to become busier. Now i rely on the recommendations of a select few to turn me on to the latest as I make feeble attempts to keep up with my own daily schedule. A buddy of mine told me "Dude check out Todd on LIVE FROM DARYL'S HOUSE" as if it were common knowledge. I remember innocently asking him "who's Daryl?" before discovering it was none other than Daryl Hall.
And so i did. Watch the show with Todd that is. Todd for those confused refers to legendary singer, songwriter and producer extraordinaire Todd Rundgren. When "Todd" does anything, musicians pay attention. Like his voice these days or not, he's still one of the path-clearers in music and technology after over 40 years in the business. Yep. Todd the God really was on Daryls show, but they filmed it live from Todd's house. In Hawaaii. A gorgeous spread, live half shell amphiteatre on his property and all. The music they made in those few hours that day sounded incredible. So I proceeded to watch about twenty more episodes of the show. Daryl wasn't fucking around. There were Christmas specials, family specials, cooking episodes. Frankly I couldn't believe it.
Most musicians or entertainers resort to playing fourth of July parties, Vegas, or Native American casions once their star begins to dim, all along hoping that some big new record company executive half their age will come along and sign them to another deal. Here's hoping. Last I heard from HALL AND OATES before this was some best of gig they were doing on... You guessed it, New Years Eve. I've never gone for that kind of thing myself. Neither as a music fan nor as a performer. I personally find it degrading to all the hard work they've done before that made them a big star in the first place. Go out in style or die trying. But for Gods sake never ever ever play Vegas; or worse yet reform your old group with none of the original members but still call it by the same name (Axl Rose... As only one example of this heinous crime). The only exception is if your singer has died before you were ready to call it a day. Which plenty of them do. That's the biz. Queen, INXS, Alice in Chains... It happens.
But lets get back to DARYLS HOUSE. So heres the man himself with a high budget truck full of camera and sound men (and ladies one assumes) making some new shit happen. Not exactly cutting edge musically, but definitely cutting edge from an indie music marketing perspective. I was surprised. Pleasantly so. And impressed. Older artists, what the business refers to as "Heritage Acts", have to make a living and still want to keep the flame of hope for their careers burning just as much as younger never before discovered acts do. Maybe even more. They've become used to it.
But let's face it, it ain't easy. And recording an "American standards" album has already been done. Too many times. (Sir Paul what were you thinking?) So too has announcing to the world that you're "now a classical music composer" (Sir Paul again...) The same way OK GO got their fifteen minutes of fame by creating a music video of them elegantly falling off of treadmills at the gym, or !!! (pronounced chick chick chick) earned their brief five minutes of fun in the sun by naming their band a bunch of punctuation symbols instead of with a word is the same kind of cutting edge, out of the box thinking and play-acting that just about anyone these days in the music business needs to do in order to reach enoug people to make a big enough noise to sell even a few thousand albums (remember those) or fill a decent sized venue. Major label or indie, it's all the same now. Think Nikki Minage or Lady Gaga or LMFAO or Chris Brown or Lil' Wayne. It's all about the gimmick that will grab that spotlight. And Daryl Hall, after over thirty years as a reigning platinum selling pop superstar, found a new way to do it.
I really like this show/concept. Besides being a very cool idea, the show itself comes off surprisingly real and free of pretension. This is the kind of 'out of the box' thinking that indie (and non-indie) artists of all kind should be brainstorming and doing all the time to keep "their thing" fresh. One doesn't have to already be famous. In Hall's case Hall and Oates were as big as it gets, (but that's not a necessity for this kind of indie revolution marketing). His model worked because he was Daryl Hall sure, but it never would have flown if the music wasn't good. I'm sure he was apprehensive about the idea at first. Who wouldnt be in his position? But he went for it. And looking back now, it feels like a much needed breath of very fine smelling fresh air in a busines environment where freshness, let alone oxegyn, is rare; or in the worst case scenario, like Mexico, just no longer avaialable.
U become a superstar, ur star rises and falls along the usual curve, and maybe u even lose ur record deal, but instead of moping about praying and grovelling for another record deal (a very misunderstood and arcane desire at this point in the biz; and a diff blog post entirely) u come up w a cool new idea, throw it up on the internet, stick to it, it catches, u get picked up by a TV network for ur own show, keep the Exec Producer cred, sign a new record deal but more on ur own terms, and pretty soon you're back on the map, new people are discovering your old and new music, and tons of others are copying u. Again! And ur star starts rising again. Daryl Hall, gotta hand it 2 the man. Really smart (besides being a gifted singer/songwriter/producer). Definitely a brilliant example of an indie music revolution success story worth noting as we make our way through the new music business (or lack thereof) labyrinth. Kudos to U Daryl.

Woody Allen is Back

2012-02-25T05:20:00.001-05:00

Woody Allen arguably made some of the best films in cinematic history during the 1970's. Climaxing some would say with Hanna and Her Sisters after a brief exploration with his inner Bergman. Then like many artists he entered a surprising unpopular phase, comprised of small focused selfish films. Many people thought we had lost him forever. The 80s and 90s were diificult years for Woody Allen junkies. Then along came Deconstructing Harry and all was well in the universe once more.
On and off through the years we still see glimmers of that old philisophical wit and comic brilliance. 2003's Anything Else... his most recent Midnight In Paris... The point being that almost all artists go through our little phases, Some last longer than others. The 80s and 90s didnt treat Sir Paul very well either. But if we're lucky our lives are long, and these various phases come and go; and regardless of whether we make our art for the enjoyment of others or for purely selfish reasons, there's a damn good chance that if we keep at it and stay committed to that initial spark that first started our passion to create, we eventually come back.
Woody Allen's professional resserection and creative resurgence as a popular filmmaker over the last ten years has been a thrill to watch; as satisfying for the joy brought on by the pure love of his uniquely entertaining art as the encouraging rush of inspiration one feels when we see anyone make a comeback. The key is to never give up doing what you love most. And if you can help it, never stop loving what you do best. It may change and shift and morph over the years, but if you just stay consistantly working at it, no matter what that it is for you, Love and Death, or even Midnight in Paris may be right around the corner.

Touching the Divine - First Day of Lent 2012

2012-02-23T12:28:00.003-05:00

Ash Wednesday

Tonight was beautiful. One of those rare spiritually transcendent experiences... A small group, only 24 total, we're gathered in a tiny dimly lit chapel. No sit down stand up sit down stand up, but rather soft singing accompanied only by piano, set apart by a few touching and at times thought provoking (or confusing / challenging depending on how you look at it) readings, followed by a very simple but impactful sermon encouraging those in attendance to not give up anything (for Lent, as is the custom) but instead to remember that "the kingdom of God (think "enlightenment" if "God" isn't your thing) is near, here now, close at hand, and that we should/can keep it close to us, inside of us, at all times".
There truly wasn't a moment during the entire service that i personally felt bored distracted mentally or intellectually compromised or critical. In other words, I was present nearly the entire time. Meditative. This is rare for me in "church" I must admit, and I consider that a blessing in and of itself. I would never want to wake up one day and realize that my spiritual practices come from non-deliberate, non thought out indoctrination -- as in "i was raised _______(fill in the blank with a religion or non-religion of your choice. They're all the same). So I've always had a soft spot for healthy skepticism in regards to believing in a higher power, or religion or spiritual practices, especially any of the "big five" so called organized religions. Luckily for me, I've never had to worry about this. My path to the Divine was a windy one, filled with many questions and many answers, chock full of wonder, truth seeking, and a determination to accept nothing less than what i deem supernatural. Its been nothing less than deliberate. So when i do find myself questioning or thinking when in a church or any kind of religious or spiritual practice, i honor it. I know my aim is true and my heart is pure. I know my mind is a gift.
More on this subject later, in another future entry, for those who want more but haven't yet found a way to "get faith" or believe... But just so i don't leave you hanging: believing or having faith is NOT the answer, despite what 90% of those who call themselves religious may tell you or will claim when asked. No, blind faith, or even rational faith (an oxymoron if you ask me) is not the solution to the quest for spiritual enlightenment, and I don't care how many millions of scholarly books have been written about it. The answer is EXPERIENCE. You either experience profound spiritual transformation in your day to day life, or your just pretending, hoping for some sort of miracle or sign one day or worse yet hoping that your "faith" will get you into some special place after you've died or allow you some good karma while you're still here.
To me personally that road is paved with self doubt, guilt, regret and pretense. Up and down and up and down. Nope, faith is for pussies not courageous enough to admit to themselves that they aren't sure what they believe and afraid that if they admit it that they'll discover that there is nothing there to have faith in to begin with. Not feeling strong enough to go it alone, they use faith as an excuse to believe in a whole host of things that other people have taught them to, without ever taking their hands off the steering wheel long enough to see if they can drive the car themselves. Personally I can't live through faith. I need experience. Supernatural life altering transformational experiences that prove to me that a God-force exists, that paranormal supernatural divinely inspired events transpire in my life and the lives of others. And lucky for me I've experienced too many of them to count.
But a caveat: one needs to let go of two things: the thinking mind -- FEEL instead -- abandon thought for intuition; and faith -- let go of the idea entirely. You wouldn't use faith if I put a gun to your head and told you I took all the bullets out. You'd want to see it for yourself before I pulled that trigger. Well the universe and the Divine Force that created it, sustains it, and comprises it is as smart as you are. Trust that. You'll be surprised how smart God is. Ask for it. Be honest. Demand it. Not with faith, but with brutal radical honest humble but deliberate "I wanna know and I'm not going to stop asking until I get some answers" diligence and desire.
We are each and every one of us made up of nothing that was not already here long before we were. If you can think it, so too can God / the Divine / the Universe. After all, what do you think you're made of? So don't be afraid of the answers. Don't be afraid of the silent moments on the path of the search. If you want to know, sincerely and resolutely, and you do not allow your ego or your thinking mind or your prior indoctrination to get in the way, there is plenty to know. The answers will come. And they won't be in a book and they won't come through having faith. True spiritual enlightenment is downright cosmic. It is supernatural. It is paranormal. If it weren't, then it wouldn't be worth calling enlightenment or transcendent. I hope this makes sense. More on this later. I promise.
There was just something special about this evening and the simple somber atmosphere and the utter lack of pomp and glitter that we usually encounter in our home church in New York City. But from this point on in the service we entered a 20 minute improv new age like piano piece played by one man in while everyone sat silent and prayed or meditated... I fell into it with ease, all else fell away, just melted into this oneness with a divine sense of all that isness... The more I stayed centered and focused on nothing but this feeling, praying, connecting with this all encompassing love grace power beauty... the more joy I felt inside me and all around me.
I could tell I was kind of Stevie Wonder swaying a bit but I didn't care. My eyes were closed and I was just in it, going for it, soft subtle slow loving but deliberate almost mantra like prayer... I was reminded that to expand out to an outer bigger higher dimension is not from or through imagination, it is not envisioning anything, not "going somewhere else out there", but rather it is remembering that the outer bands of each smaller dimension touch the inner bands of the next larger / higher dimensions... And further, based on both intellectual flat-world / fourth dimension research and studies, and many supernatural experiential intuitive events from the past, I remembered that every dimension is contained withIN a successively larger / higher dimension, thus being and feeling right here/now IS the path to experience these higher dimensions where everything from spirits, angels, the deceased and the Divine must exist.
Even if they exist in worlds hundreds of light years away from "here", they still aren't going to be in 'this' dimension. And I'm not one who believes that traveling to and from and between other dimensions requires the death of the body, or mind altering drugs (though that's not a bad way to experience them initially when first starting out, as long as one recognizes that what's at play there is more neurologically induced rather than spiritually accessed), or through long hours of meditation, chanting, yoga or prayer, nor is a guru or a master needed. Accessing higher dimensions is a here-now experience readily available to us all if the desire is there and the will is strong enough. Not necessarily visible, or even audible. But certainly visceral, palatable, tangible.
So I sat, with eyes closed, and continued to meditate and pray, communicating and connecting, listening and feeling, until the piano playing stopped. A soft wide smile was on my face. I felt like jelly. I felt at one with IT; a soft beautiful merciful loving graceful He/She isness. It was comforting, encouraging. I felt content. Satisfied. I prayed for anything and everything that appeared in my mental space. I prayed for me, my family. I prayed for you. I prayed for us all. For world peace, for honest government, for the end of the bullshit and the beginning of the kingdom of Godliness on an earthly paradise. For an enlightened planet. I felt great. All is well. I ended. Slowly opened my eyes. I was surprised to see that we were alone in the small chapel. The others had all left. My beautiful new wife sitting quietly beside me smiling and patiently waiting for me to awaken. The pianist was packing up his few belongings. I walked up to him, thanked him and gave him a big hug. And we left, ashen crosses on our foreheads and unexplainable happiness in our hearts.

Boys Just Wanna Have Fun Too...

2012-02-20T20:06:00.001-05:00

What needs to be said? Except ladies and gentlemen please give a warm Transcendence Diaries welcome to Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake doing their "HISTORY OF RAP" skits!!! (applaud now)

Justin Timberlake Jimmy Fallon History of Rap... by PayeTaChatte

Here's a link to the FIRST one, and maybe the best. http://www.iviewtube.com/v/169225/a-history-of-rap-jimmy-fallon-justin-timberlake-
No "embed" links currently available unfortunately, but def worth the click.

Prepare for the US/Israel to Falsely Announce that Iran Has Bombed a US Aircraft Carrier in the Persian Gulf

2012-02-18T22:21:00.000-05:00

     This just in. The date is February 18th, 2012. The United States media may soon announce that the country of Iran has bombed American aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise after Israel actually bombs it to bury it in the Persian Gulf where it is currently parked. The Carrier is ancient and no longer in use, and thus needs disposing of. Being in the Persian Gulf is an odd place for a nuclear armed American aircraft carrier; but not if the United States or Israel need an excuse to declare war on Iran or their nuclear energy facilities. It may be the perfect place for the United States military industrial system to conveniently have this no-longer-useful giant war machine parked. Time will tell.
     In the meantime, we can stop this plan -- if there is even any truth to it -- by simply calling them out on it before they themselves make the announcement. Watch the video(s) below, and do your own research, bearing in mind two well-known facts: number one, the US and Israel have already pulled off these kinds of false attacks on their own soil in the past in order to drum up support and declare war on other countries (including Iran) -- see the 1953 CIA coup d'etat in Iran which ousted their democratically elected president Mosadegh (or research the history of BP Oil), or the Gulf of Tonkin sham re the Vietnam/Laos/Cambodian Massacres, Pearl Harbor during WW II, or the false US Liberty attack as a few examples; some may even point one in the direction of the September 11th attacks as the most recent examples... but only time and more research will eventually shed light on that increasingly American suspicious tragedy;
     Number two -- just sit down and watch read or listen to the news for the next few days: something regarding the country of Iran is going down. The media is having a field day with it. New information seems to be leaking on a near hourly basis from various "sources" in the United States government and/or military attempting to scare the US populace and implying that Iran is "an immanent threat to the safety of Americans". Most recently there has even been talk, regardless of how silly and unlikely it may seem, that Iran is preparing to attack the United States from secret military sights in South or Central America. It appears that the oil pipelines that the United States military is currently working feverishly to build running from the Caspian Sea into the Persian Gulf (the real reason why US Service men and women are in Iraq and Afghanistan) are not enough for the US and that running a pipeline right straight through Iran would be the easiest and least expensive path. That's obvious. An attack on Iran would also satisfy Israel's fear of a nuclear powered Iran, though getting around Russia and China now is becoming a daunting task for even the once powerfully influential United States due to the ever weakening "dollar" in the world's currency market.
   Much more can be said about this subject, but here is not the place for it. Transcendence is simply rising above the rumors and circus of day to day political shenanigans in order to diffuse the lies and deception and the "right and wrong game" so world peace will eventually transpire on earth in a real sense. Much to the shame and chagrin of a few well meaning but ill intentioned people who call themselves "Christians" there is simply no logical reason why we the people of planet earth must endure yet another war, or an "Armageddon" or a "tribulation" in order for this world peace to ensue. They may want it, because it is supposedly predicted in their "Bible" -- but as a practicing Christian and Buddhist myself, I find even the fantasy of such ideas reprehensible and entirely non-Christ like. Nuff said. Check out the works and writings of more educated and noted authorities on the subject of why the United States and Israel is so desperate to militarily strike the country of Iran yet again.
     This last statement refers to the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. The US tried desperately to take over Iran through covertly supporting Saddam Hussein's Iraq during the eight year war with Iran in the 1980s, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iranians after the Iranian Islamic Revolution. When Iran proved too strong and resolute to defend themselves, the US started secretly backing Iran, selling them weapons at the same time as providing weapons to Iraq figuring both countries would eventually just blow themselves up and the US government could simply step in and take over both countries. That mission failed once the data started leaking to the international media and voila along came the forever damaging Iran-Contra Affair and perhaps even worse, a peace settlement between those two countries. Hence the US's eventual invasion of Iraq and the thinly veiled execution of Saddam Hussein. There was not a chance in hell the United States was going to allow Hussein to speak publicly in an international court of law. It would have been devastating to the reputation of the United States on the world stage. Though one presumes that most well educated people understand these facts. Again though, time will tell.
     There are plenty of videos on YouTube already discussing this topic. Here is one. Here is the link: http://youtu.be/h52NF-AW49U

Do We Have the Time to Occupy?

2012-02-13T09:31:00.008-05:00

Last Screening: IN TIME
An innovative futuristic movie written and directed by Andrew Niccol that is well worth watching, IN TIME is an allegorical tale comparing the value of modern economics with time, ie the years months weeks hours minutes and even seconds you have left to live your life.
Everyone stops aging at age 25 due to the human race's ability through medical and health advances (such as those proposed by Ray Kurzweil in "Singularity is Near" philosophy) and is able to live forever -- at least biologically; but from there they only have one more year to live. Time is the new currency of this insightful vision of the future. Instead of working for or spending money one works for and spends time, as in a phone call costs you a minute off of your life, a days work earns you 24 hours to add to your life. Laziness will cost you your life. A fascinating concept. Creative screenwriting. More than a few innovative ideas throughout. Ideas such as "don't waste my time", time share, the "Out of Time Mission", a futuristic food bank of sorts.
The film -- which stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried -- also acts as a post-modern Robin Hood or Bonnie and Clyde tale where the rich live off of exploiting the poor -- by using up all of their time through ever increasing interest rates and cost of living expenses -- but the heroes of the story in the unfair Capitalist system that is clearly a reflection of modern times devise a plan to try to steal back enough time to even the game. In reality of course it's all about money, not time, but the message is loud and clear. We may be biologically able to live to 100 now, but without enough money for food clothing shelter medical expenses and the like no one would make it past age 5 if that. Again it's a fascinating concept to think about hats off to Niccol for the screenplay.
in typical Socialist fashion the question is asked several times "Is it stealing if it was stolen?" Personally I'd say the answer is still a big rousing YES. it's not that we the 99% don't need to restructure capitalist society in order to re-balance the playing field in order to bring about a more fair and just civilization... We do. But not if it involves out of integrity acts such as lying or stealing in order to accomplish that feat. Anything in fact that would require us to rewrite history as most who have come before us have is still wrong, unjust, unfair unethical and immoral. By attempting to bring true justice to the world for the first time in human history, we would be committing the same unjust acts as our perceived enemies have through the centuries and thus would be no closer to creating an enlightened planet.
Hence I for one believe that we must do our best at all times to entertain enlighten and educate -- even protest march demonstrate "occupy" and commit large collective well-timed acts of non-violent civil disobedience -- without giving in to the temptations of those who've come before us in order to bring about a more fair just and balanced world for all. Once lying or stealing blackmail kidnapping or any other acts not in line with the noblest virtues enter into our methods we are no better than the people who have created the unfair system of greedy selfish world government that we live in today.
Borrowing the theme of the film IN TIME, the goal is not to be immortal or live forever biologically if it is at the cost of the safety health well being or lives of others. For that is not living. It's staying alive for the sake of staying alive but without truly living.
In economic terms we may not feel like we have the time to participate in the Occupy Movement (OWS), but outside of that thinking, in our hearts, from our intuition and our highest intentions, we all know that we can in reality create the time, some at least, to participate in one way or another if we want to do more with our lives this just wait to die. Truth be told there isn't an area of our lives and culture as fellow inhabitants of earth that could not benefit from a good old fashioned house cleaning.
From the most obvious examples such as helping to spread the enormous wealth of the world in order to assure that no one ever dies again from thirst or starvation to restructuring the criminal global banking systems; from forcing the airline industry to give up those 140 million dollar a year executive salaries in order to provide their customers with more affordable and more healthy flying conditions (as in remove four rows from every plane so the average person has a seat big enough to not be squeezed up into an uncomfortable ball of pain and discomfort for hours) to dismantling the most cruel health care system in the modern world (pass laws to forever ban the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurance industry from the extortionist control they have over the medical establishment. And then of course there's Big Oil and the war profiteering weapons manufacturing companies -- arguably the most deceptive insidious and life threatening forces on planet earth today, the so called "federal reserve" which isn't federal at all, campaign finance reform in elected government systems and on on and on.
Yep. Plenty of work to do. And there's no time like the present to start rolling up our sleeves to do it. Better news is that if we come together and unite as one people working collectively towards each cause we can easily make the changes we want to see take place in the world. If we don't, no one else will. We may not have the capabilities of technology to live forever quite yet, but each of us has at the very least one miraculous secret weapon perhaps even more powerful than immortality, the will to live fully the years we do have left and an unwavering desire to make the world a better place while we are still here.
As always, to be continued....

On the Reasons for The Decline of American Influence in the Modern World part 1

2012-02-07T15:42:00.038-05:00

A reply comment from a recent Facebook comment thread that started with a wall post question that read: "Ron Paul just interviewed on CNN. Brilliant man. Only candidate who appears to be truly committed to American national soveriegnty & Constitutional values. But why? Why is Ron Paul the last man standing willing to defend these ideals publicly? Everyone already knows about the Bilderberg Group, Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Big Oil, the MIC et al who weild much of the real influence re what happens in the US and the West now, so let's assume that foundationally as the backdrop of the bigger picture w this question. No need to go into it as if it's not already known... In fact, could this simple fact be the sole reason why no one else is willing to speak up the way Paul does? Believing that it's impossible to be "selected" if one does? Or are they all just simply ignorant to what the American Republic is supposed to look like? (This is as much about the Dems and Obama as it is the Repubs FYI -- God love 'em but tthe Obama admin is obviously not very concerned w defending the Constitutional Republic America once prided itself on). So what gives?"
There were plenty of good answers. The first few focused on the 9/11 conspiracy that took place in the United States on September 11th, 2001, perhaps our darkest hour thus far. And we've seen plenty of darkness since "Columbus" first landed on these shores 500 years ago. Other comments related to the stranglehold Israel has had on the US since the 1940s. And still others vehemently opposed these ideas entirely and instead leaned towards more partisan explanations for what ails the once great nation-state. A word for word copy of what I originally posted hastily in reply to all the informative and insightful comments follows below.
Allen I know about all the 9/11 stuff, (and agree with the major ideas of it), and the war profiteering the US has been doing since God knows when... Just not sure how your 9/11 opening(s) relate to this seemingly "sudden" dismissal and disrespect for the US as a super power. The US gov has always committed high acts of treason corrupt deception lies and secret spy stuff all over the world... And yet has always maintained a high level of respect from most other nations. Maybe it was all fear based... But still, there's def a change in world opinion now, something we've never seen in our lifetimes...
My personal op is that it started with the blatant transparency of 2000's stolen election (public display of the country's disregard for its stated Democratic values) and really blew up with that administration's illegal invasion of Iraq (public display of the country's disregard for its stated committment to previously agreed upon rules of war & engagement post WWII, state sovereignty, and basic respect for human decency -- hard to believe anything the US gov claims to promote regarding liberty or democracy after Cheney/Bush/Rice and their 8 year reign of terror and torture in the Middle East). After the economic collapse Of 2008 (public display of their complete disregard for the laws and regulations that make Capitalism work safely, ie one cannot borrow their way to prosperity without a solid business plan behind the borrowing) what does the US have left? The threat of military might.
One also cannot help recalling Obama's shameful display of crow-eating disregard for democracy and human rights as he escorted a Chinese Communist dictator through a 21 gun salute on their way to a State Dinner at the White House in 2011; a moment one could arguably label one of the most embarrassing in the country's recent history. There wasn't a soul on earth who didn't see through that disreputable farce. As of late France Germany and others, and now Russia and China, have all begun to distance themselves from the US through sometimes glaringly insulting public remarks -- evidenced most recently by Russian Ambassador Churkin's comments on the Charlie Rose show for example, and even more offensive actions of non-cooperation in areas the US usually takes for granted -- Egypt's alleged upcoming trial of the 19 Americans being only one.
The fact that the Obama admininstration was helpless in our country's campaign to save the "three hikers" imprisoned by Iran and that it took a Hollywood actor (Sean Penn) to free them is more than a little disturbing in the context of this subject. Obviously the Israel situation plays a huge role in all of this, though no one with half a brain or concern for the safety of themselves or their family dares speak about it, and for good reason; see the book "They Dare to Speak Out:.." here: http://www.amazon.com/They-Dare-Speak-Out-Institutions/dp/155652482X. But as festering a sore as that pink elephant is in the American Oval Office, it still remains only one of the many incongruent inconsistencies and hypocrycies that threaten the US's reputation, economic stability and social security one could conjecture.
I for one, unlike our esteemed colleague Allen Niven, do not believe it is the sole cause of all the troubles that confront us presently. More to the point, my question is less about the myriad issues one could point to where the US has done wrong and been called out on it -- Israel for example, certainly a major impediment to the US regaining its reputation, the respect of other nation states or global cooperation in its attempt to recover economic stability -- and more about the question of whether or not this seemingly dire situation is due to one major recent event or a more slowly growing series of many events collected over time in the global psyche around American imperialism and its overt hypocrisy regarding nearly everything it claims to be sacred.
As Stu Stewart pointed out, Russia is certainly no angel in the human rights arena and has much to gain from the business of selling weapons of mass destruction -- that fact is obvious, and forget about their version of "what democracy looks like"' -- laughable at best -- why doesn't Putin just declare himself Emporer and just be done with it? But the fact remains that they're still a major player with ever growing respect and influence on the world stage. Which begs the question, is it all just coming down to economics? Has the threat of military might lost its impact for old glory? If so, besides apologizing and starting to make amends -- which would be the prudent, wise, intelligent and dare one say "just/right" thing to do, is there anything else the US can do to recapture its once admirable position in the world?

I Feel the Best Ive Felt in Years

2012-02-02T15:55:00.001-05:00

A soft hushed meditative silence has filled the space now. The Wizards are going deep now. Over 3000 people in one room and you can hear the slightest of sounds... It's a peaceful quiet... light quiet conversation or the processing of others hundreds of yards away. Awareness of all that is has taken over. Life's major resistances are melting away. Everyone becoming softer. And softer still.
"Each moment you are happy is a gift to the rest of the world." -- Harry Palmer
I am happy. Wow. Truly happy. Not pretend happy. Just awoke from a process and took a walk to integrate. Deliberately stepped down just a bit to Observe how to describe wirh words what this feels like to share with others. Expanded. Soft. Light. Super light. As if I am walking on air. As if I don't weigh more than a pound or two. Free. Liberated. Soft again. Just so soft light expanded and happy.
It is good to be here. It is good to be me. I feel gratitude. Two and a half days still to go... More later. Xoxoxo

Avatar Wizards Course Day 9

2012-01-31T10:23:00.001-05:00

Maybe day 9. Not totally sure. Best morning lecture so far. As in WOW! But alas I felt that way about yesterday's and Friday's lectures too. Go figure. Harry Palmer is a genius. In the real sense of the word. [genius takes so many forms that it would be useful to explore the subject at another time. Note.]
If interested in this kind of thing go to eBay or amazon.com and pick up a used copy of Palmer's first book entitled LIVING DELIBERATELY. The fIrst time I read it I did it in one sitting in the bath. Blew my mind. After hundreds and hundreds of hours of research and probably twice as many books, this was the first time in my short life up to that point that I had read a book in the field of Cosmology, psychology, philosophy, theology or Cosciousness research where I felt the author knew as much as I did -- (you either get this or you don't) -- as in that the real key to it all is to humbly admit to what we don't know as much as to what we know; i.e. don't have a hidden agenda that needs to be masked by pretending that you know it all. As in he didnt say one thing that required an intelligent mind to suspend disbelief or accept ideas that were fantastical -- yet at the same time he offered rational solutons to age old cosmological and cosciousness (both human and beyond) mysteries.
I dont want to give it away. Nor do I want to spend any time reviewing or anylizing Ideas. This is just a quick plug -- for those of you who recognize there is more to it than meets the eye, and you've got a sneaky suspiscion that it's somewhere between and yet has nothing to do with the wisdom of ancient religions, mystics and physics then you're in for a real treat.
For a quicker fix head to YouTube and watch some of his lectures for free. For the first time in 30 years these historically confidential lectures are now being released to the public in order to speed up the awakening of the planet.
Prepare for at least two or three things at the start: you'll need to listen a few times to certain sentences. He goes deep and he goes there fast. It's ok not to get it all in one go. IPod or iPhone them in order to view a few times. Two, if this is your type of subject matter you'll immediately feel a sense of relief awe and excitement to hear someone speaking so intelligently clearly simply and without personal agenda.
A possible number three may be a subtle judging or anylizing whether or not you believe he's right or wrong... Whether "you" "agree" with what he is saying or not. This is natural. I did it. We all do. I believe it's a healthy symptom of personal power and or responsibilty. No one who runs or takes the Avatar courses wants mindless will-less submissive slave beings at the bottom of the personal power ladder, those looking to accept ideologies whole without contemplation or introspection in order to worship someone or something else outside of themselves. That just isn't what this is about. So feel into it all and see how it fits/feels to you. Your intuition will make a good guide whether it's right for you now or not.
If you find yourself reading the book or listening to the lectures and being overly critical on the other hand, as in "that's not the truth! I know the truth and that's not it... That's not the smartest thing I've ever read, etc" label it as an unintegrated aspect of the ego's attempt to protect its asserted sense of being right / smart / the greatest etc. Don't let it rule your life or lead you. Dig?
I gotta run... Get back to playing with the materials. Beautiful stuff.

Random Fact: there are 255,268 possible outcomes to tic tac toe.

Last Screening: JANE EYRE the original with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. Welles is incredible in this film. Mumbles like a madman. But he's so intense. It's almost funny due to how different humanity is now... This kind of high handed mellow-drama wouldnt fly today, but it's a damn good classic. Just see it.

And... THE CONSTANT NYMPH starring Charles Boyer and Joan Fontaine. 24 year old Fontaine plays a 14 year old teen in love with a much older composer (Boyer). These notes are as much for me as they are for you, whoever "you" are, remember. The memory of this 1942 movie will stay with and haunt me for the rest of my life. SEE IT. It's beautifully written and very moving.

Current read: SIDDHARTHA by Hermann Hesse. Yes, again. Every few years you can't go wrong reading this one again say no more. ; >