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.)

Scope Response 7

Every week I copy and paste Rob Bresnzy's Free Will Astrology(www.freewillastrology.com)
reading for Pisces and respond to it if it inspires some deep reflection.

Long-standing myths are on the verge of mutating. Stories that have remained fixed for years are about to acquire unexpected wrinkles. The effects may be pretty spectacular. I suspect it'll be the equivalent of Sleeping Beauty waking up from her long sleep without the help of the prince's kiss, or like Little Red Riding Hood devouring the wolf instead of vice versa. There's something you can do, Pisces, to ensure that the new versions of the old tales are more empowering than the originals: For the foreseeable future, take on the demeanor and spirit of a noble warrior with high integrity and a fluid sense of humor.

SR 6(?)

Every week on Wednesday or Thursdays I go to freewillastrology.com, read my horoscope for Pisces written by Rob Breszny(author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia). I copy and paste the entry to my blog and write a response if I feel that the horoscope speaks to me or offers some good questions for reflection. It is Monday so I owe you/me one for last week.



"May you live in interesting times." That old toast is actually a droll curse meant to be heaped upon an enemy. "Interesting" implies rapid change, rampant uncertainty, and constant adjustment. What’s preferable is to live during a boring era when stability reigns. Or so the argument goes. But I reject that line of thought. I celebrate the fact that we're embroiled in interesting times. I proclaim our struggles to navigate the sharp turns and uphill climbs to be a jubilee of the first degree. What fantastic luck it is to be on the planet when everything mutates! May we be up to the task of bringing heaven down to earth. May we be worthy of the trust the universe is placing in us. Now get out there, Pisces, and enjoy the hell out of the epic and entertaining drama we're stewarding. This is your time to be a leader and a luminary.

This entry actually connects with the book I just finished, The Journeys of Socrates by Dan Millman(see review below). While no chracter actually toasts Sergei, his nemesis, Zakolyev does make live interesting for him by having his men hold him down will his giant companion kills Sergei's wife. Sergei is banished by his mother-in-law Valeria and vows to find Zakolyev and kill him but first he needs to heal and to become the best warrior he can be. This leads him to search for a hermit named Razin who teaches him how to prepare for an attack at anytime byt whacking him with a stick when he's sleeping, cooking, walking, and peeing. Razin sends Sergei to train under Sarafim the retired non-violent monk who is actually a master of martial arts and other higher spiritual abilities. The journeys searching for Zakolyev and each of Sergei's teachers and then to America is full of interesting lessons.

What this has to do with me.

I celebrate the fact that we're embroiled in interesting times. I proclaim our struggles to navigate the sharp turns and uphill climbs to be a jubilee of the first degree.

Personally, I have not experienced great tragey in my life. Though I have lost some elder family members no one has killed or violated my wife, nor was I raised in a abusive home or sent to boarding school or military school, though public school seemed to be violent enough. On the other hand I have been on quite a few journeys. I have mentioned in previous entries that I went to U/ARTs in Philadelphia where I discovered a deep, psychic connection with a circle of friends. I didn't graduate and left halfway through my junior year, mostly because of my own laziness and inability to balance fun and school work. I have many regrets about that time which led to me coming back to my parents house in Maryland and falling into a deep depression which took two years to come out of.

Then I decided to go out to California to be near my friends. I lived in Burbank and North Hollywood. I look back on that time as some of the best years of my life. Particularly the last two, when I discovered Frank Sontag's Impact Program on 95.5 KLOS. Through him I discovered spiritual teachers and books. One of those books includes, Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. I also learned about a man named Benjamin Creme who came on Frank's show with his message that there is a group of evolved beings known as the Masters of Wisdom and the Master of the Masters is Maitreya, the World Teacher.

In August of 2005, I went to Benjamin Creme's talk and experienced one of the weirdest but mor powerful nights of my life. Peices of the Great Mystery puzzle of life fell into place. I went to the Transmission Meditation and discovered Share International, a nonprofit organization that promotes Benjamin Creme's message and leads transmission meditation groups which I attended whenever I could.

I began reading books Ghandi, Ram Dass, Bo Lozoff.

Some nights I would take the bus- actually EVERY night I rode the bus to and from work. I was living in North Hollywood at the time and had to take two buses to get to work and two buses to get back(by a different route because a few busses stop after a certain time). anyway on bus (163) would take me to La Cienega at a stop which was right next to the 101. I usually had 45 minutes to waite for the next bus which would take me to Burbank Blvd to a stop where I had to walk about 2 miles to get to my house. Needless to say, I got a lot of exercise and because I gave up soda, and eating meat, lost a ton of weight.

anyway, some nights I did not feel like "going home." Instead I would go on adventures. I got off at a stop which was a the foot of Mullholland Drive. I walked up a narrow path that led up to an overlook. I hopped the fence, walked around and enjoyed the view of L.A. where you could look down on the stars and up at the stars at the same time. It was a magical time for me. Perhaps more so than back in college. I would sit on the hill and meditate. One night I walked from the overlook to another one further down the road, which overlooked the San Fernando valley. Other nights I would just stay up all night then take a bus down to the beach. I wish I could go back to that time. But then it wasn't the best of times. I had a lot of trouble with money, and with focusing on mundane things like getting to work on time while taking more steps on my spiritual journal at the same time.

To be continued. . . I gotta poo . . .

The Journeys of Socrates, a review.

The Journeys of Socrates, by Dan Millman is a good summer read. It is an adventure story about how a young boy, Sergei Ivanov in Russia becomes the mentor dubbed Socrates by Dan in Way of the Peacefull Warrior. There are many parallels and themes shared by 'Peaceful Warrior. It's a coming of age story as the boy Sergei lives and trains at a military school, learns survival and basic combat techniques as well as truth about his family background. It's also a revenge story as one of Sergei's classmates, a bully and a sociopath becomes his mortal enemy who eventually kills Sergei's pregnant wife. Sergei sets out on a quest to become a skilled fighter trained by elite warriors, monks, and to hunt down Zakolyev and avenge his wife's death. Sergei trains with Sarafim- the Yoda-like master of martial arts and spiritual discipline who teaches Socrates what it means to be a warrior, and more importantly what it means to be a Peaceful Warrior. He convinces Socrates that revenge will not bring his wife back. "He who slays the dragon becomes the dragon." My favorite quote from the book is "You cannot kill darkness with more darkness. Only light can banish the shadows from this world.(235) "

Scope Response #5

I have not been keeping up with the blog thing - but I think this Horoscope could spark some interesting reflection.

magic (ma' jik), n. 1. A mysterious event or process that seemingly refutes the known laws of science. 2. A willed transformation of one's own state of mind. 3. A surprising triumph that exceeds all expectations. 4. Something that works, though no one understands why. 5. The impossible becoming possible. 6. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." (Arthur C. Clarke.) 7. A quality predominant in the lives of Pisceans during the period July 1 through July 20, 2009.

Magic. 8. Something extraordinary in an ordinary world, which if done enough times will become ordinary and requires belief and faith to work. 9. A belief system which bridges the gap between religion and atheism. 10. Every little thing she does is magic. 11. A collectible card game in which opponents become wizards in a duel using a deck of illustrated cards which depict spells, enchantments, and creatures which are employed strategically to destroy the other player.

Do you believe in magic? I do. I did. I used to. Sometimes I still do. I used to believe in magic as a fun, imaginary concept which was depicted in movies and cartoons in various ways but was considered by adults as silly nonsense. I'm not talking about stage magic which is all about showmanship, slight of hand, a practiced routine with optical illusions, rigged props, and stylish timing. I'm talking about the stuff that turned a pumkin into Cinderella's carriage, the stuff that made Peter Pan fly, the stuff that turned Prince Adam into He-Man, the stuff that gave Luke the ability to block lasers with his lightsabers, jump really high and levatate objects with his mind. All these things happened magically with little explanation except "it's magic"(or the Force).

For most of my life, I was raised in the Methodist church and taught to believe in a man who could walk on water, heal sick people by touching them and who has two traditionally insane holidays which have little to do with but somehow celebrate/honor/surround his birth, death and resurrection. This was and still is a good foundation for teaching a young man right and wrong, how to treat others as you would be treated, and that death is really not that scary because if you're good and go to church you'll go to heaven and live forever with God, Jesus, Moses, Abraham Lincoln, and all your dead relatives. (Just don't ask why or how or any really deep questions because no one really knows the answer.)

When I went off to college at the University of the Arts, I had roommates who were destructive, obnoxious, and crude. One in particular was a studier of philosophy and an atheist who found every opportunity to argue against the existence of God. He challenged by beliefs which I feel I defended to the best of my ability but it was the first time I really began to question what I really believed. The more I interacted with my roommates who did not seem to follow any moral code or artists and other people who just had different ideas about God, life, and what it all means them more I found myself questioning my beliefs and adopting other blief systems as my own in order to figure them out for myself. As the rift in different ideology and behavior patterns grew, I found myself more and more on the other side of the second floor. For those of you who are not familiar with the Furness Dorms they were two parallel buildings connected by a great hall and courtyard. A walkway connected the two wings. The building itself was once an insane asylum(and probably still is).

I was thrown into a world of ghosts, psychic abilities, wishes, magic, Oujia boards, tarot cards and stories about angels, fantasy creatures, friendship, love, art, music, and drama(the interpersonal kind not the theatrical kind, then again "all the world's a stage" as Bill Shakespeare would say).

I'm sorry. This isn't flowing the way I thought it would. As I write this I feel like something sacred was lost. I feel like as I grow older my belief and fascination with magic is dying. The more I plug into this electronic world either the internet or in video games or just struggling in "the real world"- I lose interest in the things of magic. Once in a while, I'll see a penny and pick it up, make a wish and toss it in a fountain. Once in a while, I'll have a dream, a very vivid dream, forget about it and then all of a suddend find myself walking right into it or watching it unfold before me like a movie(sometimes it IS a movie). Once in a while I break out the Lord of the Rings tarot cards that some magical girl in a chatroom ordered and sent me free of charge just because, or gaze up at the stars and the moon, or look for patterns or signs in clouds, sticks, dots, numbers, or words, but then I shake it off, move on, get called away by some addiction or some other thing and build up the walls that once had been broken through, made transparent or passed through like water or air or fire. These magic moments are getting rarer and rarer. Even those who introduced me to the world of magic will seldom mention those days, those nights that seemed to stretch forever. When we woke up at midnight, roamed the Philly streets, listened to St. George tell us what kind of D and D character we'd be, teach us how to "cloak" or that somehow because we are artists we could see things in a way that "normal people" can't. That the whole purpose in life is to break through the illusions and prepare for some mystical war that looms on the horizon.

What did it all mean? I used to go back to that time in my mind, read my old journals, yearn for that feeling- that feeling- I have no words for it. I lost it a long time ago. Magic comes close to the word I am searching for. But I think I left it on a cold, dark beach somewhere between Santa Monica and Malibu.

That feeling has taken the form of what I call the Shadow. An archetypal version of me who does whatever he feels is right in that moment and fuck everyone else, forget the world, leave it all behind, you have nothing to lose except yourself. On New Years Eve, I left my Shadow on Second Street and the Boardwalk in Ocean City, MD, where the Jesus sand scupltures usually are during tourist season but were somehow refreshingly absent as if the clean flat sand were enough of testament to God's power than the crude, egoic projections of religious folk art.

If magic exists, if magic really works if Rob is correct and this period between July 1 and July 20 is a magical time for Pisces(though I consider October to be more magical), I will try an experiment, and we'll see what happens. I'm going to compose a magic spell and cast it with the posting of this blog entry. They say be careful what you wish for and I will make this wish, this spell as consciously and thoughtfully as possible.


I have nothing to wish on. No pennies, no stars, no beaded necklace. However, I wish to make a wish all the same.
I have a simple wish. Though simple does not always mean easy, silly, or pointless. I wish upon my magic name.

Concord, Beorc, Sonny Leathersoul, Who I Am.

I wish to have a magical night, to turn on that spiritual light
Break through the wall, wander that hall,
open wide the Door, blow the roof off like never before
to see again the First of Three and to talk to her like we did long ago,
And see once again the One who came to me three July's ago.

This is my wish, this is my spell, as I am a fish, and a wizard as well.