It is The Second of January in the year 2010. Wow gee, is it 2010 already? Why do people say that? Wow, is it really 2010 already? If we weren't ready for it after the 365 days of 2009 we weren't paying attention. Maybe it means that time as we measure it by weeks, months, and years is unnatural and irrelevant to how we run our lives.
I suppose I should make a resolution to make a resolution like I used to do every new years, every start of the school year, and sometimes on my birthday. Take a moment to change something; either stop an old bad habit or start a new more useful practice. Sometimes people will ask, "What's your New Years resolution?" Often they won't let it go until you say something even if its absurd. You may try to get out of it "Sorry, I can't. I never stick to those thinkgs anyway." But they''l insist, "Come on, you have to have at elast one. In fact, I think generally people are waiting for you to say To quit this or to be more that, so they can scoff and say. "Yeah, right." Especially if its a close friend or relative. Especially if they have toruble keepign their own promises, vows, resolutions, etc. Or they will be the ones who say three weeks later when you are reaching for that third pizza slice or lighting up again, "what happened?"
The idea of resolution should not be to completely change something over night but to make a goal to work towards and don't take it too hard when you mess up. The first resolution one should make is to not hate yourself if you break a vow or a resolution. The word Re-solution implies a solution, an idea to fix somehing, and to RE-apply the solution as much as it takes until the resolution becomes a sentence like: It's been 100 days since I smoked a cigarette or I have been treating people with more kindness and people seem easier to deal with even in hectic times.
So what is my resolution? My resolution is to stop. Just stop. When life gets too hectic, too crazy, or I find myself repeatedly doing self-destructive things or causing pain to myself or others I have to learn to say: stop. Stop. Close your eyes. Breathe. Your mind may try to start up again but just say: Stop. But if- Stop. But phone is rin-Stop. (If it's important, answer the phone and by all means don't stop driving and cause a pile-up.) But if you are at a rest, you sit down in the break room at work, or at a stop light, or drive thru window or in church or in school or in your apartment, house, while lying in bed and your mind starts listing things you forgot to do or what you plan to do tomorrow or replaying stupid conversations or arguments over mundane bullshit or even intense important issues- Stop. Just stop.
But I can't- Stop! Stop saying I can't. Stop saying I will. Stop saying okay to things which are not okay. Stop using words that hurt others. Stop playing violent video games or listening to info-tainment garbage. Stop letting other people tell you how to think, what to think, how to treat people who disagree, how to manage every aspect of your life. Stop saying "yes", stop saying "no", stop saying "I guess so." I do that alot: I guesso, I don't know, um, uh, er. Stop. Stop lying stop smoking, stop eating more than you need, stop buying beyond your limit, stop living in survival, in denial, in revival, on trial, on fast food, on broken promises, on sugar-coated lies. Stop believing or saying you believe in things that you really don't believe in. Just stop.
If you can learn to stop, you can learn to start doing more to change your life. If you learn to stop bad habits, you can learn to cultivate new, beneficial ones. If you practice stop, you will be prepared for the day when everything stops.
It is 2010. I think I know why the numerical year feels wrong. Jimi Hendrix sings, "the hours getting late," another song by an artist which I cannot think of has line that goes "it's later than it seems." I think there is a growing fear that we are living in the end times either it was prophesied by some ancient tribes who have vanished from the land(or wiped out by disease, war, or whatever) or by climate crisis or a rogue asteroid or endless wars, superflu, pick your favorite apocolyptic scenerio. There is growing paranoia about 2012. Is it going to be the end of life as we know it? No. It won't. At least not for all of humankind. There may be cataclysmic events, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. that will mean the end for some unfortunate folks. However, I believe that 2012 will be as good time as any to stop. Just stop. Allow all our progress, all our hopes, fears, and our collective insanity to just stop. Maybe there will be revelations as confusing and scary as those in the book Revelation. Maybe there will be mass extinctions of humans as well as animals. Maybe- Stop.
Just stop. 2012 is in the future. It doesn't exist. All we have is now. Stop worrying about the future, stop regretting the past or even revelling in past memories. Stop. This is all we have and will ever have. Here. Now. This moment. Stop.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Radio Waves- A Review and a taste of Revolution
"Not so long ago, I used to come to this station filled with the fire of revolution, and the zeal of an explorer. We used to believe tht somehow, if we just played the music long enough and loud enough, we could change the world, evolve ourselves into something higher, brighter, more aware." - Jim Ladd, Radio Waves
Not so long ago, I lived in Southern California. I moved out in September of 02 with typical dreams of making in the entertainment industry. Whatever that means. Now years, seven years later, I am three thousand miles away and still being transformed by the light which I brought back from the glittering streetlights of L.A. It was the music and the words and the guidance of two very different people on opposite ends of the station schedule at 95.5 KLOS. One was Jim Ladd, the Lonesome L.A. Cowboy, the only remaining free-form rock and roll D.J. and the other Frank Sontag, the reassuring voice that I found when searching for answers about the unending bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan and my own internal and external struggle to survive in the San Fernando Valley.
Between The Impact Program on Sunday nights/monday mornings and Weeknights after close at the fine dining establishment know as Subway, Headsets on Wednesday at midnight, long bus rides, nights on Mullholland overlook, walking down an empty street at 1 or 2 a. m. , and little help from a little green tree which apparently can be lit on fire and inhaled, and a few good books "to hang out with" as Ram Dass would say, I discovered what I had suspected since high school and probably long before that- that there is more to life than school, work, money, and the hopes of becoming "rich and famous." That there is a part of me that no one else can see but I can feel but never knew how to use and what it had to do with "who I am".
Being an artist I know a little something about tapping into that Source for inspiration. The same Source which the Beatles, Doors, and other bands that were famous long before I was born.
Music, especially rock and roll or classic rock had a way of expressing what I felt in my heart.
Radio Waves is a heart-wrenching, mind-blowing look into the origins of FM Radio and how Free-form radio started as desperate act by Big Daddy Donahue to save a dying foreign language station and turn it into a forum for the voice of revolution. Free-form rock and roll was what set FM radio apart from AM. Jim Ladd was part of the movement which captured the heart of the Summer of Love and turned it into a spiritual revolution.
The book gives you the sense that you are along for the ride or have been since the beginning even if you just got on the magic bus. If you have not heard what Free-form rock and roll sounds like- go to 955klos.com and listen to the Jim Ladd show for a while- listen to his skillful sets of songs with various themes which tell a little story, listen to headsets with the lights low and some insence or candle or other comustible enhancement. It may just change your life. You may get a glimpe at what RADIO KAOS was all about. You may find yourself asking questions which have very scary answers or which trigger even scarier questions.
One of the most inspiring parts of the book is the Paraquat incident which resulted in Jim Ladd giving out a phone number which connected to the White House. I'm not going to tell you what happened but I found myself wondering if somehting like that could be attempted again. You may find yourself saying, "Hey, is there a phone number or e-mail address which goes directly to the White House- You may find yourself calling or e-mailling the president and asking him why the F-(though i'd probably go with a more subtle, calm, and respectful approach) we are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. What can we accomplish there besides more annhillation by megaton warheads, more soldiers and ordinary people like you and me trying to live with car bombs and roadside mines. Why should Americans support, defend, pay for a war which has no end, no purpose, no coverage on any news network or talkshow except maybe Real Time with Bill Maher, the Daily Show, The Impact Program and the Jim Ladd Show. Does Mr. Obama, a man I am proud to have voted for. The first president I can honestly say I openly and thoughtfully elected. The first president I have seen in person and captured on my cellphone cam. The only glimpse of W. I ever got was the exhaust pipe of AirForce One last time I flew back from a visit to L.A.
This review has become a rant and a rant which I hope will become a revolution. For anyone who lives or has lived in So Cal and knows who Jim Ladd or only just discovered him on the new Impact Program, please listen again if you don't already, order Radio Waves through the talkradioone.com Amazon button. turn off the T.V.(or unlplug it and put in the the basement like I did) and read Radio Waves by Jim Ladd(and I suggest listening to some of the music referenced in the book because it gives it a more effective context). It only took me two days and it has broken open a dam that so long I had kept putting my finger into the holes of.
Oh and please listen to the new Impact Program on talkradioone.com. I owe a lot to both Jim Ladd and Frank Sontag. Without them I would still be a little lost sheep with no clue as to what I really beleive or who I really am.
Lord Have Mercy.
"Listen again with fresh ears to the mystic rhythm of the trial drum - beating from the heart of KAOS" - Jim Ladd.
Not so long ago, I lived in Southern California. I moved out in September of 02 with typical dreams of making in the entertainment industry. Whatever that means. Now years, seven years later, I am three thousand miles away and still being transformed by the light which I brought back from the glittering streetlights of L.A. It was the music and the words and the guidance of two very different people on opposite ends of the station schedule at 95.5 KLOS. One was Jim Ladd, the Lonesome L.A. Cowboy, the only remaining free-form rock and roll D.J. and the other Frank Sontag, the reassuring voice that I found when searching for answers about the unending bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan and my own internal and external struggle to survive in the San Fernando Valley.
Between The Impact Program on Sunday nights/monday mornings and Weeknights after close at the fine dining establishment know as Subway, Headsets on Wednesday at midnight, long bus rides, nights on Mullholland overlook, walking down an empty street at 1 or 2 a. m. , and little help from a little green tree which apparently can be lit on fire and inhaled, and a few good books "to hang out with" as Ram Dass would say, I discovered what I had suspected since high school and probably long before that- that there is more to life than school, work, money, and the hopes of becoming "rich and famous." That there is a part of me that no one else can see but I can feel but never knew how to use and what it had to do with "who I am".
Being an artist I know a little something about tapping into that Source for inspiration. The same Source which the Beatles, Doors, and other bands that were famous long before I was born.
Music, especially rock and roll or classic rock had a way of expressing what I felt in my heart.
Radio Waves is a heart-wrenching, mind-blowing look into the origins of FM Radio and how Free-form radio started as desperate act by Big Daddy Donahue to save a dying foreign language station and turn it into a forum for the voice of revolution. Free-form rock and roll was what set FM radio apart from AM. Jim Ladd was part of the movement which captured the heart of the Summer of Love and turned it into a spiritual revolution.
The book gives you the sense that you are along for the ride or have been since the beginning even if you just got on the magic bus. If you have not heard what Free-form rock and roll sounds like- go to 955klos.com and listen to the Jim Ladd show for a while- listen to his skillful sets of songs with various themes which tell a little story, listen to headsets with the lights low and some insence or candle or other comustible enhancement. It may just change your life. You may get a glimpe at what RADIO KAOS was all about. You may find yourself asking questions which have very scary answers or which trigger even scarier questions.
One of the most inspiring parts of the book is the Paraquat incident which resulted in Jim Ladd giving out a phone number which connected to the White House. I'm not going to tell you what happened but I found myself wondering if somehting like that could be attempted again. You may find yourself saying, "Hey, is there a phone number or e-mail address which goes directly to the White House- You may find yourself calling or e-mailling the president and asking him why the F-(though i'd probably go with a more subtle, calm, and respectful approach) we are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. What can we accomplish there besides more annhillation by megaton warheads, more soldiers and ordinary people like you and me trying to live with car bombs and roadside mines. Why should Americans support, defend, pay for a war which has no end, no purpose, no coverage on any news network or talkshow except maybe Real Time with Bill Maher, the Daily Show, The Impact Program and the Jim Ladd Show. Does Mr. Obama, a man I am proud to have voted for. The first president I can honestly say I openly and thoughtfully elected. The first president I have seen in person and captured on my cellphone cam. The only glimpse of W. I ever got was the exhaust pipe of AirForce One last time I flew back from a visit to L.A.
This review has become a rant and a rant which I hope will become a revolution. For anyone who lives or has lived in So Cal and knows who Jim Ladd or only just discovered him on the new Impact Program, please listen again if you don't already, order Radio Waves through the talkradioone.com Amazon button. turn off the T.V.(or unlplug it and put in the the basement like I did) and read Radio Waves by Jim Ladd(and I suggest listening to some of the music referenced in the book because it gives it a more effective context). It only took me two days and it has broken open a dam that so long I had kept putting my finger into the holes of.
Oh and please listen to the new Impact Program on talkradioone.com. I owe a lot to both Jim Ladd and Frank Sontag. Without them I would still be a little lost sheep with no clue as to what I really beleive or who I really am.
Lord Have Mercy.
"Listen again with fresh ears to the mystic rhythm of the trial drum - beating from the heart of KAOS" - Jim Ladd.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Scope Response 10
Did you ever notice that some people seem to be addicted to falling in love over and over again? While they may truly have a natural propensity to exult in the beauty of a great variety of their fellow humans, I also suspect that their addiction serves as an excuse for them to fall in love with themselves over and over again. At least in part, each new romantic partner is a pawn in their strategy for coming back home to themselves. Here's what I'm inclined to ask these people: Why not simply eliminate the middleman or middlewoman? I'm not necessarily implying that you'll benefit from this advice right now, Pisces. But then why did a soft, lulling voice in my head just suggest that I tell it to you?
Love love love. Falling in love over and over again? Yeah I've done that. Several times with at least three prominent female friends. Is this an excuse to fall in love with myself over and over again? Possibly. Is it a way to "come home" to myself. That's more accurate I would say.
There have been many girls, women, females who I believed were "the one for me" the Girl of My Dreams. There are three that stand out amongs the rest.
The first, I fell in love with my freshmen year in high school. She was the friend of a friend whose house I was spending the night in as the last hurrah for the summer before going to the big high school. It was lucky that my friend was two years older and offered to introduce me to all of his friends. Then he told me about this girl, and while a cannot remember exactly how he described her a small voice in my head said: She will be mine. I will be-friend her and she will choose me over him. In the first week of school I met her, she was the most amazing person I had ever met. The three of us went to a football game. She and I just seemed to click "like peas and car-rots." We literally talked the whole night while my other friend suddenlt became the third wheel of sorts. For the next few weeks and months it became a real life version of "The Doggone Girl is Mine". But my friendship with the girl just grew and grew. We became inseparable and up until my sophmore year during which it was just the two of us because our mutual friend had graduated.
The is girl was everything I wanted to be she was an artist, a mathmatical genius, she took advanced Spanish and Calculus and art. She never slept and hardly ever ate. I think she was vegetarian or tried to be as much as the crap school lunch provided. "Just potatoes" was her usual meal. She had dark hair, blue eyes, white skin, and I thought she was the most fascinating thing. One day after I had attempted (badly) to woo her with carnations and a badly plagarized Beatles song(she loved the Beatles) She told me in a letter "implored" me to find "good soil." Since that day I have spend long hours wondering just WTF she meant but I think I have an inkling and have only begun to discover the many faceted mystery those two words presented.
In recent year, the Beatles has become my favorite band. I've explored the art field and continue to do so. And now I am taking math classes again and finding that I actually like doing it. Okay, I'd rather do anything than math but I find when I do it, it's really not all that difficult to understand it just requires practice. I desire more than ever to see her and talk to her again. Part of me wonders if I am going to fall in love with her again even for a moment. If seeing and talking to her again means exploring the possibilities or if it's jsut a chance to reconnect to someone I still hold as someone who has qualities that I lack or have yet to unlock or just have to will myself to engage. If you read this and you know who I am talking about and you have seen or have contact information for her please do not hesitate to e-mail, message, Facebook, whatever to me. Her name is Chris Feild and I would love to see her again even if its to share a brief moment.
The second is the sister of one of my best friends, I fell in love with her in the Spring of my sophmore year and tried to ask her to every dance or event I could up until my Senior Prom. In most cases we had little or nothing in common except Marching Band, choirs and all the little adventures and inside jokes that go with that. Looking back, I'd say while at the time I would say I was so madly in love with her and for the most part I just didn't understand why. She was closest that I ever saw as the girl in the movie that is so beautiful and seemingly perfect in her own way that it- okay, the only thing I can compare it to is Dumb and Dumber which was my favorite comedy at that time and the whole infatuation of Lloyd to Mary is pretty much the way I felt about Ally. She was merely the inspiration for crazy fantasies which I won't delve into.
And Third, is the one that I have mentioned many times in past blogs, journals. She introduced me to the world of magic, dreams, wishes, ghosts, and 80's culture. At the time our freshman year of college- I was first introduced to places, people, situations, ideas, conflicting views, obnoxious roommates, haunted dorm rooms and a security guard who was prehaps the first of many teachers(other than fic-tional characters) who actually peeled back the fabric of the illusion we call "the real world"). I would never delved so deeply into those long nights and stuff that sent my "weird-shit-o-meter" into the red had I not found myself drawn night after night to her door and to her face and her magnetic energy. I wanted that energy, that ability to see what cannot be seen by "normal" eyes.
Here's what I'm inclined to ask these people: Why not simply eliminate the middleman or middlewoman? I'm not necessarily implying that you'll benefit from this advice right now, Pisces. But then why did a soft, lulling voice in my head just suggest that I tell it to you?
So, instead of pining over some psuedo-sister who while beautiful and unique and amazing in their own right, and being attracted to the things that I see in them that I lack or that I wish to possess, I should figure out which qualities I lack in myself, spends some time reflecting on my short-comings, the things I want and the things I need and the things that no one else can give me but my own Inner Self. In recent years the people that possess the qualities and demonstrate them in public talks, radio talk shows, or in books are spiritual teachers who have shown me more doors and pathways to the Inner Light as any beautiful princess or queen of all my dreams.
Consider also the words of Ledd Zepplin in the song "Going to California" searching for a "the girl out their with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair." I think I went to California in search of the girl- but instead found "the path the runs straight and high." And heard that soft lulling voice. A voice easily covered by TV, video games, FEAR (Fantasies, Exuses, Addictions, Regrets). A voice which is buried now in a layer of shit and cries to be set free.
Love love love. Falling in love over and over again? Yeah I've done that. Several times with at least three prominent female friends. Is this an excuse to fall in love with myself over and over again? Possibly. Is it a way to "come home" to myself. That's more accurate I would say.
There have been many girls, women, females who I believed were "the one for me" the Girl of My Dreams. There are three that stand out amongs the rest.
The first, I fell in love with my freshmen year in high school. She was the friend of a friend whose house I was spending the night in as the last hurrah for the summer before going to the big high school. It was lucky that my friend was two years older and offered to introduce me to all of his friends. Then he told me about this girl, and while a cannot remember exactly how he described her a small voice in my head said: She will be mine. I will be-friend her and she will choose me over him. In the first week of school I met her, she was the most amazing person I had ever met. The three of us went to a football game. She and I just seemed to click "like peas and car-rots." We literally talked the whole night while my other friend suddenlt became the third wheel of sorts. For the next few weeks and months it became a real life version of "The Doggone Girl is Mine". But my friendship with the girl just grew and grew. We became inseparable and up until my sophmore year during which it was just the two of us because our mutual friend had graduated.
The is girl was everything I wanted to be she was an artist, a mathmatical genius, she took advanced Spanish and Calculus and art. She never slept and hardly ever ate. I think she was vegetarian or tried to be as much as the crap school lunch provided. "Just potatoes" was her usual meal. She had dark hair, blue eyes, white skin, and I thought she was the most fascinating thing. One day after I had attempted (badly) to woo her with carnations and a badly plagarized Beatles song(she loved the Beatles) She told me in a letter "implored" me to find "good soil." Since that day I have spend long hours wondering just WTF she meant but I think I have an inkling and have only begun to discover the many faceted mystery those two words presented.
In recent year, the Beatles has become my favorite band. I've explored the art field and continue to do so. And now I am taking math classes again and finding that I actually like doing it. Okay, I'd rather do anything than math but I find when I do it, it's really not all that difficult to understand it just requires practice. I desire more than ever to see her and talk to her again. Part of me wonders if I am going to fall in love with her again even for a moment. If seeing and talking to her again means exploring the possibilities or if it's jsut a chance to reconnect to someone I still hold as someone who has qualities that I lack or have yet to unlock or just have to will myself to engage. If you read this and you know who I am talking about and you have seen or have contact information for her please do not hesitate to e-mail, message, Facebook, whatever to me. Her name is Chris Feild and I would love to see her again even if its to share a brief moment.
The second is the sister of one of my best friends, I fell in love with her in the Spring of my sophmore year and tried to ask her to every dance or event I could up until my Senior Prom. In most cases we had little or nothing in common except Marching Band, choirs and all the little adventures and inside jokes that go with that. Looking back, I'd say while at the time I would say I was so madly in love with her and for the most part I just didn't understand why. She was closest that I ever saw as the girl in the movie that is so beautiful and seemingly perfect in her own way that it- okay, the only thing I can compare it to is Dumb and Dumber which was my favorite comedy at that time and the whole infatuation of Lloyd to Mary is pretty much the way I felt about Ally. She was merely the inspiration for crazy fantasies which I won't delve into.
And Third, is the one that I have mentioned many times in past blogs, journals. She introduced me to the world of magic, dreams, wishes, ghosts, and 80's culture. At the time our freshman year of college- I was first introduced to places, people, situations, ideas, conflicting views, obnoxious roommates, haunted dorm rooms and a security guard who was prehaps the first of many teachers(other than fic-tional characters) who actually peeled back the fabric of the illusion we call "the real world"). I would never delved so deeply into those long nights and stuff that sent my "weird-shit-o-meter" into the red had I not found myself drawn night after night to her door and to her face and her magnetic energy. I wanted that energy, that ability to see what cannot be seen by "normal" eyes.
Here's what I'm inclined to ask these people: Why not simply eliminate the middleman or middlewoman? I'm not necessarily implying that you'll benefit from this advice right now, Pisces. But then why did a soft, lulling voice in my head just suggest that I tell it to you?
So, instead of pining over some psuedo-sister who while beautiful and unique and amazing in their own right, and being attracted to the things that I see in them that I lack or that I wish to possess, I should figure out which qualities I lack in myself, spends some time reflecting on my short-comings, the things I want and the things I need and the things that no one else can give me but my own Inner Self. In recent years the people that possess the qualities and demonstrate them in public talks, radio talk shows, or in books are spiritual teachers who have shown me more doors and pathways to the Inner Light as any beautiful princess or queen of all my dreams.
Consider also the words of Ledd Zepplin in the song "Going to California" searching for a "the girl out their with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair." I think I went to California in search of the girl- but instead found "the path the runs straight and high." And heard that soft lulling voice. A voice easily covered by TV, video games, FEAR (Fantasies, Exuses, Addictions, Regrets). A voice which is buried now in a layer of shit and cries to be set free.
Monday, August 17, 2009
I Have a Dream - excerpt from PRONOIA'
I Have a Dream
excerpted from PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia
If you've ever been to a poetry slam, you know that sensitive lyrics in praise of love and beauty are rare. Far more common are vehement diatribes that curse injustice and hypocrisy.I'm not putting that stuff down; I've been known to unload some dark rants myself. But at this perfect moment, the Beauty and Truth Laboratory is more interested in pragmatic idealism. We're thirsty for streams of visionary consciousness, fountains of lustrous truth, and floods of feisty hope.Therefore, we propose that instead of a poetry slam, you participate in our "I Have a Dream" Slam. To get in the mood, read or listen to the speech that Martin Luther King Jr. made at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The text, as well as an MP3 of King giving the speech, is available on the Web.Maybe King's plea will inspire you to create your own personal "I Have a Dream" manifesto. To be part of the "I Have a Dream" Slam, send your offering to uaregod@comcast.com or P.O. Box 150628, San Rafael, CA 94915.
Now here's my "I Have a Dream" speech.I have a dream. I have a dream that in the New World, there will be a new Bill of Rights. The first amendment will be, "Your daily wage is directly tied to the beauty and truth and love you provide."I have a dream that in the New World, childbirth will be broadcast in prime time on a major TV network every night.I have a dream that the New World will have exhilarationists, and they'll vastly outnumber the terrorists. The exhilarationists will be performance artists with a conscience ... charismatic improvisers who love to spring fun surprises. They'll commit unexpected interventions and unscheduled spectacles that delight hordes of strangers.
I have a dream that in the New World, we will add an eleventh commandment to the standard ten: Thou shalt not bore God.I have a dream of a week-long annual holiday called the Bacchanalia. Work and business will be suspended so that all adults can explore their ripe mojo with frothy erotic experiments. Tenderly orgiastic marathons will rage unabated. Reverential ecstasy and grateful generosity will rule.
I have a dream that when anchormen report tragedies on their nightly TV shows, they'll break down and cry and let their emotions show. No more poker faces.*
In the New World, you'll be a fascinating enigma worthy of a best-selling unauthorized biography and I'll be an inscrutable genius whose every move is packed with symbolic meaning -- and vice versa. That will be the law in the New World -- far different from the Old World, where schadenfreude is epidemic and your distinctive flair is supposed to make me feel worshipful or diminished.
*I have a dream that in the New World, the word "asshole" will be a term of endearment rather than abuse. Plutocracy will be a felony. April Fool's Day will come once a month. There'll be scientific horoscopes and mystical logic. Every one of us will have at least one imaginary friend. Compassion will be an aphrodisiac.In the New World, we'll launch an affirmative action program that ultimately makes most of us celebrities. Buddhist real estate developers will build a chain of sacred shopping centers in the heartland. The CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies will be required by law to enjoy once-a-week sessions with Jungian psychotherapists. Pioneers in artificial intelligence research will develop computers that can talk to God.In the New World, same-sex marriages will be fully sanctioned, of course. But why stop there? We'll also legalize wedding bonds among threesomes, foursomes, fivesomes, and large groups of people who are in love with each other. I have a dream that we will expand the meaning of love beyond anything our ancestors imagined.*
In the New World, our children will study singing and dancing and meditation and dream work with as much diligence as they now devote to math and science. They'll learn to see with their own eyes and think with their own minds and feel with their own hearts, studying those subjects as intently as they do spelling and grammar and social studies. Beginning in seventh grade, they'll get lessons in the art of creating successful intimate relationships. And we'll teach them why it's only fair that for the next 3,000 years we use "her" for the generic singular pronoun instead of "him."*I have a dream that we will take everything we need and give everything we have. We'll be both selfish altruists and generous braggarts, Llibertarian socialists and capitalist humanitarians. That'll be the law in the New World -- different from the Old World, where you can blindly serve your own interests or devote yourself to the needs of others, but not both.*I have a dream that in the New World, Oprah Winfrey will buy up all the Pizza Huts on the planet and convert them into a global network of menstrual huts, where for a few days each month, every one of us, men and women alike, can resign from the crazy-making 9–5 -- drop out and slow down, break trance and dive down into eternal time. We will sleep eight and a half hours every night and practice our lucid dreams ... sing love songs from the future while soaking in long, hot baths ... feast on chocolate as we converse with the little voices in our heads ... research the difference between stupid suffering and wise suffering until we finally get it right . . . wear magic underwear made from eagle feathers, spider webs, and 100-year-old moss . . . and conjure up bigger, better, more original sins and wilder, wetter, more interesting problems.
*In the New World, you'll kick your own ass and I'll wash my own brain. I'll be my own parents and you'll be your own wife. And vice versa. That'll be normal in the New World -- different from the Old World, where everyone except me is to blame for my ignorance and you call on everyone except yourself to give you what you need. I'll push my own buttons and right my own wrongs. You'll wake yourself up and sing your own songs.*I'm the president now . . . and so are you. I am the Supreme Commander of the United Snakes of the Blooming HaHa . . . and so are you. And what we proclaim is that in the New World, we will love our neighbors as ourselves, even if our neighbors are jerks. We will never divide the world into us against them. We will search for the divine spark even in the people we most despise, and we will never dehumanize anyone, even those who dehumanize us.I have a dream that sooner or later every one of us will become a well-rounded, highly skilled, incredibly rich master of rowdy bliss -- with lots of leisure time and an orgiastic feminist conscience.
excerpted from PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia
If you've ever been to a poetry slam, you know that sensitive lyrics in praise of love and beauty are rare. Far more common are vehement diatribes that curse injustice and hypocrisy.I'm not putting that stuff down; I've been known to unload some dark rants myself. But at this perfect moment, the Beauty and Truth Laboratory is more interested in pragmatic idealism. We're thirsty for streams of visionary consciousness, fountains of lustrous truth, and floods of feisty hope.Therefore, we propose that instead of a poetry slam, you participate in our "I Have a Dream" Slam. To get in the mood, read or listen to the speech that Martin Luther King Jr. made at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The text, as well as an MP3 of King giving the speech, is available on the Web.Maybe King's plea will inspire you to create your own personal "I Have a Dream" manifesto. To be part of the "I Have a Dream" Slam, send your offering to uaregod@comcast.com or P.O. Box 150628, San Rafael, CA 94915.
Now here's my "I Have a Dream" speech.I have a dream. I have a dream that in the New World, there will be a new Bill of Rights. The first amendment will be, "Your daily wage is directly tied to the beauty and truth and love you provide."I have a dream that in the New World, childbirth will be broadcast in prime time on a major TV network every night.I have a dream that the New World will have exhilarationists, and they'll vastly outnumber the terrorists. The exhilarationists will be performance artists with a conscience ... charismatic improvisers who love to spring fun surprises. They'll commit unexpected interventions and unscheduled spectacles that delight hordes of strangers.
I have a dream that in the New World, we will add an eleventh commandment to the standard ten: Thou shalt not bore God.I have a dream of a week-long annual holiday called the Bacchanalia. Work and business will be suspended so that all adults can explore their ripe mojo with frothy erotic experiments. Tenderly orgiastic marathons will rage unabated. Reverential ecstasy and grateful generosity will rule.
I have a dream that when anchormen report tragedies on their nightly TV shows, they'll break down and cry and let their emotions show. No more poker faces.*
In the New World, you'll be a fascinating enigma worthy of a best-selling unauthorized biography and I'll be an inscrutable genius whose every move is packed with symbolic meaning -- and vice versa. That will be the law in the New World -- far different from the Old World, where schadenfreude is epidemic and your distinctive flair is supposed to make me feel worshipful or diminished.
*I have a dream that in the New World, the word "asshole" will be a term of endearment rather than abuse. Plutocracy will be a felony. April Fool's Day will come once a month. There'll be scientific horoscopes and mystical logic. Every one of us will have at least one imaginary friend. Compassion will be an aphrodisiac.In the New World, we'll launch an affirmative action program that ultimately makes most of us celebrities. Buddhist real estate developers will build a chain of sacred shopping centers in the heartland. The CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies will be required by law to enjoy once-a-week sessions with Jungian psychotherapists. Pioneers in artificial intelligence research will develop computers that can talk to God.In the New World, same-sex marriages will be fully sanctioned, of course. But why stop there? We'll also legalize wedding bonds among threesomes, foursomes, fivesomes, and large groups of people who are in love with each other. I have a dream that we will expand the meaning of love beyond anything our ancestors imagined.*
In the New World, our children will study singing and dancing and meditation and dream work with as much diligence as they now devote to math and science. They'll learn to see with their own eyes and think with their own minds and feel with their own hearts, studying those subjects as intently as they do spelling and grammar and social studies. Beginning in seventh grade, they'll get lessons in the art of creating successful intimate relationships. And we'll teach them why it's only fair that for the next 3,000 years we use "her" for the generic singular pronoun instead of "him."*I have a dream that we will take everything we need and give everything we have. We'll be both selfish altruists and generous braggarts, Llibertarian socialists and capitalist humanitarians. That'll be the law in the New World -- different from the Old World, where you can blindly serve your own interests or devote yourself to the needs of others, but not both.*I have a dream that in the New World, Oprah Winfrey will buy up all the Pizza Huts on the planet and convert them into a global network of menstrual huts, where for a few days each month, every one of us, men and women alike, can resign from the crazy-making 9–5 -- drop out and slow down, break trance and dive down into eternal time. We will sleep eight and a half hours every night and practice our lucid dreams ... sing love songs from the future while soaking in long, hot baths ... feast on chocolate as we converse with the little voices in our heads ... research the difference between stupid suffering and wise suffering until we finally get it right . . . wear magic underwear made from eagle feathers, spider webs, and 100-year-old moss . . . and conjure up bigger, better, more original sins and wilder, wetter, more interesting problems.
*In the New World, you'll kick your own ass and I'll wash my own brain. I'll be my own parents and you'll be your own wife. And vice versa. That'll be normal in the New World -- different from the Old World, where everyone except me is to blame for my ignorance and you call on everyone except yourself to give you what you need. I'll push my own buttons and right my own wrongs. You'll wake yourself up and sing your own songs.*I'm the president now . . . and so are you. I am the Supreme Commander of the United Snakes of the Blooming HaHa . . . and so are you. And what we proclaim is that in the New World, we will love our neighbors as ourselves, even if our neighbors are jerks. We will never divide the world into us against them. We will search for the divine spark even in the people we most despise, and we will never dehumanize anyone, even those who dehumanize us.I have a dream that sooner or later every one of us will become a well-rounded, highly skilled, incredibly rich master of rowdy bliss -- with lots of leisure time and an orgiastic feminist conscience.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Scope Response 9
My weekly or weakly(your choice) response to my weekly horoscope for Pisces(look up your own sign) at freewillastrology.com:
I've borrowed a fable from the ancient Greek writer Aesop to create a parable you can use in the coming weeks. Once upon a time there was a very thirsty crow. Rain hadn't fallen in a long time, and the creek from which she'd always drunk had dried up. Searching and searching for a bit of moisture, the crow finally happened upon a tree under which sat a ceramic pitcher with some water in it. But the pitcher's neck was narrow, and the crow couldn't fit her beak past it to reach the water. Inspired by desperation, the crow at last got an idea. Why not drop small rocks into the pitcher, making the water's level rise? And that's exactly what she did. How sweet it was when at last she quenched her thirst.
This is a good one. I know exactly what it means. Lately, I have been feeling a bit down about my current point in life. While I am fortunate to have a job and doing pretty well in school(though I have yet to make a decision about taking a math class), I am missing my friends in California, and missing California Herself, and the life that had- although not glamorous and on the edge of a knife was a period of revolution, change and spiritual illumination. I met some very deep spiritual teachers developed my own unique spiritual practices.
It began in May of 2005 when I noticed a news report that it was a bloodiest day in Iraq after Bush landed on the aircraft declaring Mission Accomplished. Why was this happening? What are we doing in Iraq? Why is no one else asking these questions? When I got to my rented room in Burbank I turned on the radio to listen to some classic rock music and heard the voice of Frank Sontag talking about the Invasion and occupation of Iraq and asking why no one else was questioning why we are there. I began listening to Frank regularly and discovered that there is a deepere reason for my questioning the Invasion of Iraq, that is to question my own views and embark on more deeper questions such as who I am and why am I here?
Many years later- it is 2009. Over 5,000 troops have lost their lives. We now have a new president, who I support- voted for and continue to support. There has been a lot of hatred directed to Obama and most of it is fear-based. But I had a bit of a confrontation with a co-worker who was saying things like Obama is not a citizen and speaks with a forked tongue- that nobody paid attention to him during the campiagn/election. Well, I paid attention and I listened to Obama, listening to the way he speaks, watching for a sign that I could not trust him. And so far I have no reason not to trust him. If he wasn't a citizen and it was such an important flaw in his background, I'm pretty sure that someone in the electoral committee or congress regardless of affiliation would find it. If on the other hand, Obama is not what he seems than, I suppose we will find out in time as we found out the various faults and scandals of past presidents.( i.e. Clinton lying about getting a blow job, Bush lying about WMDs, etc.). It is hard to have a conversation with someone who disagrees about political(as well as religion or sports teams) there is a lot of emotion- fear and anger. Often I have customers come up to buy ammo but because it is so pricy and we never get enough in to satisfy the demand. It often leads to the customer complaining about Obama and saying things like the country is going down the tubes and it goe downhill from there.
For the last six weeks or so, I have been listening to Frank Sontag on his NEW Impact Program on http://talkradioone.com/. I was one of the many who were devastated when Franks show on KLOS was cancelled. But I knew it meant Frank was going on to something better. The new show is much better. On Tuesdays and Thursdays 7PM(PACIFIC)/10PM(EST). I invite any who read this to listen. I am a frequent caller and called in on this same topic- the hatred for Obama.
How does this apply to the Horoscope?
Well. The mess in Iraq was the catalyst to my own introspection and spiritual revolution. Since I have moved back "home" I have revolved or deevolved back to my old ways- many times I have tried to kick start a new spiritual practice- sometimes it will last for a month or more but I cannot keep with anything for very long. The constant contact with fearful, insecure, and emotional people is very draining and this recent reaction to Obama brings up a need to surrender it all and re-energizing of my disciplines.
This fable of the thirsty crow is a good analogy to my present spiritual state. "These times are famine for a soul but for the senses its a feast," Jackson Browne sings. Searching for spiritual nourishment in a spiritually dry land. I keep trying to tap into the old pathways- for instance making playlists of my favorite songs to meditate to but finding it harder to focus to just sit and shut up(at least mentally) and just listen and just let go.
I see the jug of water- but my beak cannot reach the water- so I need to drop some stones in the water- often it is when we are confronted with turmoil- pain, loss, terminal illness that we turn to God or find time to do some introspection, reflection, take a step back and ask some questions or just sit and allow the pain or grief or whatever to wash away. The pain of confronting angry and fearful emotions which seem to hit me hard when they should wash over me.
I am now reminded of an excerpt from Dan Millman's book, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, where Dan has a vision- a guided vision of being a goldfish in a pond. Stones periodically splunk! into the water sending him tumbling or panicking. After a while Dan learns to calm himself down and allow to ripples to pass by and ride them out until the water is calm again. Pain, fear, confrontation stones dropped into my water jug making the water rise- from which I can drink.
To spend some time. A little time each day or night, whenever you can find the time. 5, 10, 20 minutes. I say this both to spur myself into some serious meditation and to invite others to discover this for themselves. Don't wait for something terrible to slap you awake. WAKE UP! We don't have a lot of time left- the rivers and streams are drying up- but if God wills it there will be water.
Peace.
See more like this one at my blog
I've borrowed a fable from the ancient Greek writer Aesop to create a parable you can use in the coming weeks. Once upon a time there was a very thirsty crow. Rain hadn't fallen in a long time, and the creek from which she'd always drunk had dried up. Searching and searching for a bit of moisture, the crow finally happened upon a tree under which sat a ceramic pitcher with some water in it. But the pitcher's neck was narrow, and the crow couldn't fit her beak past it to reach the water. Inspired by desperation, the crow at last got an idea. Why not drop small rocks into the pitcher, making the water's level rise? And that's exactly what she did. How sweet it was when at last she quenched her thirst.
This is a good one. I know exactly what it means. Lately, I have been feeling a bit down about my current point in life. While I am fortunate to have a job and doing pretty well in school(though I have yet to make a decision about taking a math class), I am missing my friends in California, and missing California Herself, and the life that had- although not glamorous and on the edge of a knife was a period of revolution, change and spiritual illumination. I met some very deep spiritual teachers developed my own unique spiritual practices.
It began in May of 2005 when I noticed a news report that it was a bloodiest day in Iraq after Bush landed on the aircraft declaring Mission Accomplished. Why was this happening? What are we doing in Iraq? Why is no one else asking these questions? When I got to my rented room in Burbank I turned on the radio to listen to some classic rock music and heard the voice of Frank Sontag talking about the Invasion and occupation of Iraq and asking why no one else was questioning why we are there. I began listening to Frank regularly and discovered that there is a deepere reason for my questioning the Invasion of Iraq, that is to question my own views and embark on more deeper questions such as who I am and why am I here?
Many years later- it is 2009. Over 5,000 troops have lost their lives. We now have a new president, who I support- voted for and continue to support. There has been a lot of hatred directed to Obama and most of it is fear-based. But I had a bit of a confrontation with a co-worker who was saying things like Obama is not a citizen and speaks with a forked tongue- that nobody paid attention to him during the campiagn/election. Well, I paid attention and I listened to Obama, listening to the way he speaks, watching for a sign that I could not trust him. And so far I have no reason not to trust him. If he wasn't a citizen and it was such an important flaw in his background, I'm pretty sure that someone in the electoral committee or congress regardless of affiliation would find it. If on the other hand, Obama is not what he seems than, I suppose we will find out in time as we found out the various faults and scandals of past presidents.( i.e. Clinton lying about getting a blow job, Bush lying about WMDs, etc.). It is hard to have a conversation with someone who disagrees about political(as well as religion or sports teams) there is a lot of emotion- fear and anger. Often I have customers come up to buy ammo but because it is so pricy and we never get enough in to satisfy the demand. It often leads to the customer complaining about Obama and saying things like the country is going down the tubes and it goe downhill from there.
For the last six weeks or so, I have been listening to Frank Sontag on his NEW Impact Program on http://talkradioone.com/. I was one of the many who were devastated when Franks show on KLOS was cancelled. But I knew it meant Frank was going on to something better. The new show is much better. On Tuesdays and Thursdays 7PM(PACIFIC)/10PM(EST). I invite any who read this to listen. I am a frequent caller and called in on this same topic- the hatred for Obama.
How does this apply to the Horoscope?
Well. The mess in Iraq was the catalyst to my own introspection and spiritual revolution. Since I have moved back "home" I have revolved or deevolved back to my old ways- many times I have tried to kick start a new spiritual practice- sometimes it will last for a month or more but I cannot keep with anything for very long. The constant contact with fearful, insecure, and emotional people is very draining and this recent reaction to Obama brings up a need to surrender it all and re-energizing of my disciplines.
This fable of the thirsty crow is a good analogy to my present spiritual state. "These times are famine for a soul but for the senses its a feast," Jackson Browne sings. Searching for spiritual nourishment in a spiritually dry land. I keep trying to tap into the old pathways- for instance making playlists of my favorite songs to meditate to but finding it harder to focus to just sit and shut up(at least mentally) and just listen and just let go.
I see the jug of water- but my beak cannot reach the water- so I need to drop some stones in the water- often it is when we are confronted with turmoil- pain, loss, terminal illness that we turn to God or find time to do some introspection, reflection, take a step back and ask some questions or just sit and allow the pain or grief or whatever to wash away. The pain of confronting angry and fearful emotions which seem to hit me hard when they should wash over me.
I am now reminded of an excerpt from Dan Millman's book, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, where Dan has a vision- a guided vision of being a goldfish in a pond. Stones periodically splunk! into the water sending him tumbling or panicking. After a while Dan learns to calm himself down and allow to ripples to pass by and ride them out until the water is calm again. Pain, fear, confrontation stones dropped into my water jug making the water rise- from which I can drink.
To spend some time. A little time each day or night, whenever you can find the time. 5, 10, 20 minutes. I say this both to spur myself into some serious meditation and to invite others to discover this for themselves. Don't wait for something terrible to slap you awake. WAKE UP! We don't have a lot of time left- the rivers and streams are drying up- but if God wills it there will be water.
Peace.
See more like this one at my blog
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Scope Response #8
In case, you have not been following along and just tuned in, every Thursday(or whenever I get around to it) I go to freewillastrology.com, read, cut and paste the reading for Pisces(my sign) and write out a response as Rob's scopes are often insiteful if not filled with pop-cultural, historical, or Dennis Miller-esque analogies which form time to time have the ring of truth for me.
Todays entry I have not read before hand and have cut and pasted it just now.
Internet addiction has risen to epidemic proportions in China. In early 2009, psychologists in Shandong province began offering an alleged cure that involved the use of electro-shock therapy. Parents of 3,000 young people paid Dr. Yang Yongxin and his team over $800 a month to hook their anesthetized teens up to machines that sent electricity through their brains to induce artificial seizures. After four months, the Chinese government intervened and halted the treatment, noting that there was no evidence it worked. This practice might sound comically barbaric to you, but I think it has a certain resemblance to the way you have been dealing with your own flaws and excesses: with inordinate force. In the coming weeks, I really think it's important not to punish yourself for any reason, Pisces, even if it's in a supposedly good cause. The lesson of the Chinese experiment is: not only is it overkill, it also doesn't even have the desired effect.
Todays entry I have not read before hand and have cut and pasted it just now.
Internet addiction has risen to epidemic proportions in China. In early 2009, psychologists in Shandong province began offering an alleged cure that involved the use of electro-shock therapy. Parents of 3,000 young people paid Dr. Yang Yongxin and his team over $800 a month to hook their anesthetized teens up to machines that sent electricity through their brains to induce artificial seizures. After four months, the Chinese government intervened and halted the treatment, noting that there was no evidence it worked. This practice might sound comically barbaric to you, but I think it has a certain resemblance to the way you have been dealing with your own flaws and excesses: with inordinate force. In the coming weeks, I really think it's important not to punish yourself for any reason, Pisces, even if it's in a supposedly good cause. The lesson of the Chinese experiment is: not only is it overkill, it also doesn't even have the desired effect.
Yeah. Maybe I should have read it first. Well, as I have no clue how to respond, but I guess I won't beat myself up over it. After all its 3:20 a.m. and I have to get up tomorrow and go to work at 10. At the moment I'm feeling quite awake like those long nights doing artwork in 333 or putting it all on the back burned while St. George tells us ghost stories. Those were the days. I guess I should have punished myself more during that time. My punishments are consequences delivered by the universe or karmic forces or that invisible man in the sky. Which don't seem to have done any good do they? Here I am in the same place I was after I left U/ARTs ten years ago.
I think if I keep writing in this manner, I will deliver my own punishments, self-reprimanding and all that. Regretting the past is punishment enough.
When I got home from seeing the movie, I saw a bright object over my house. It was brighter than all the stars and rather reddish-white. Later I went to space.com and discovered that it was Jupiter and Neptune(which was not visible to me) in a rare appearance. The Sea God must be having and intense conversation for the Mighty Lightning-bolt Wielding King. Although he was not hurling them tonight. He was hurling quite a few of them when I was in Ocean City eating crabs at Hooper's with my folk. Afterwards there was a beautiful sunset to the west, dark storm clouds to the east and a double rainbow in the middle. I think I got my magical moment(see SR5).
That's all I have to say about that. Other than it's 3:33. The most magical number I can think of.
Peace.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Depressed People: A Movie Review
Just got back from the movies. I took myself out. Again. Went to Noodles and Co. Again. Read some more of American Gods by Neil Geiman. Pretty good summer read if you ask me. Maybe I'll review it later. Saw Funny People, starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogan, written and directed by Judd Apatow. I never thought that a movie called Funny People would leave me depressed and with a numb ass wondering, where the fuck is Frodo. How can you have a three hour movie without hobbits walking around, crying, and dropping rings into fiery chasms? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't there a rule that comedies should be under 2 hours? Now, Apatow has been known for some funny films, Superbad, which I have yet to see, 40-Year-Virgin, which was a hit that I've really only seen on TV(which is on about 40 times a month) but I would definitely buy it on DVD and watch it a few hundred times, and Knocked Up, with Rogan and Katherine Heigl, ugly dude bones hot chick who has a baby which is funny and cute because it's an unlikely pairing. I don't mind when movies go over two hours but when its a comedy and it hasn't wrapped up after 2 hours there is a problem. Maybe it's just an editing issue. Maybe its just that directors hate having to "kill their children" but some of the best movies have been chopped down and re-written several times just to get the perfect flow, timing and to make all the points that have to be made.
To be fair, I liked all the characters and the actors who portrayed them. There were many funny moments, as the title suggests, and each character felt fully fleshed out and well-casted. Adam Sandler plays an aging comic genius who is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and Seth Rogan is a wanna-be comedian working at a deli counter and doing free stand up gigs. An opportunity to open for Sandler's character creates an acquantance which becomes a business partnership, friendship, and bro-mance, which is a common theme in Apatow movies. In fact there are several of these taking place throughout the film between Rogan's roommates, Jonah Hill, referred to in the film as the XXL version of Rogan, and Jason Schwartzman, who played my favorite character in (The Darjeeling Limited)and looks like the love-child of George Harrison and Luke Wilson. These hetero man-on-man relationships tend to outweigh those involving the female leads.
There are some very good points to be made about following one's dream, what it means to reach that dream and have everything but raises the question - does that success, financial blessing/burden and having 5 flat screen TVs to watch several movies featuring you all at once and cooks, drivers, Hispanic gardeners - do these things actually equal happiness? Sandler's character George is forced to examine these things in light of his illness and Rogan becomes his personal assitant/joke writer.
There are several twists in the movie which make it worth watching. My biggest problem is not so much the length but the fact that it takes so long to make points and pay off things set up earlier such as Seth's/Ira's budding relationship with a female comedian. Some editing, mostly in the script-writing phase would have helped. I suppose it is hard for a filmmaker who writes and directs his material to decide where to make cuts and why should he when he has established himself as someone that can bring in audiences from different age groups and get them laughing and crying- often in the very next scene which this movie does a lot of. As I said before, after 2 hours that roller coaster can get old.
If I were to rate this I would give it three and a half stars. I recommend it if you like films that take you on a wide emotional range but be warned that you may find yourself checking your cellphone clock a couple times(something I rarely do but was compelled by this film to do.)
To be fair, I liked all the characters and the actors who portrayed them. There were many funny moments, as the title suggests, and each character felt fully fleshed out and well-casted. Adam Sandler plays an aging comic genius who is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and Seth Rogan is a wanna-be comedian working at a deli counter and doing free stand up gigs. An opportunity to open for Sandler's character creates an acquantance which becomes a business partnership, friendship, and bro-mance, which is a common theme in Apatow movies. In fact there are several of these taking place throughout the film between Rogan's roommates, Jonah Hill, referred to in the film as the XXL version of Rogan, and Jason Schwartzman, who played my favorite character in (The Darjeeling Limited)and looks like the love-child of George Harrison and Luke Wilson. These hetero man-on-man relationships tend to outweigh those involving the female leads.
There are some very good points to be made about following one's dream, what it means to reach that dream and have everything but raises the question - does that success, financial blessing/burden and having 5 flat screen TVs to watch several movies featuring you all at once and cooks, drivers, Hispanic gardeners - do these things actually equal happiness? Sandler's character George is forced to examine these things in light of his illness and Rogan becomes his personal assitant/joke writer.
There are several twists in the movie which make it worth watching. My biggest problem is not so much the length but the fact that it takes so long to make points and pay off things set up earlier such as Seth's/Ira's budding relationship with a female comedian. Some editing, mostly in the script-writing phase would have helped. I suppose it is hard for a filmmaker who writes and directs his material to decide where to make cuts and why should he when he has established himself as someone that can bring in audiences from different age groups and get them laughing and crying- often in the very next scene which this movie does a lot of. As I said before, after 2 hours that roller coaster can get old.
If I were to rate this I would give it three and a half stars. I recommend it if you like films that take you on a wide emotional range but be warned that you may find yourself checking your cellphone clock a couple times(something I rarely do but was compelled by this film to do.)
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