The Schizophrenic Nature of America

America is a dichotomy of life views.

One is Puritan in nature and therefore thinks work before pleasure and asexuality before sexuality. 

 But then there is the Libertarian view of Freedom, the Pursuit of Happiness, and an attitude of "Don't Tread On Me!"

This is obviously a schizophrenic attitude, but it serves a very good system of weights and balances. The problem with this format, however, is that where the Libertarian attitude says I don't agree with you so let's talk about it, the Puritan attitude says, I don't agree with you, and therefore we shall not talk about it, or discuss it in anyway, and you should be punished for even having that attitude I disagree with.

This is not a functional or healthy way to be. Tolerance, understanding, compassion, trying new things, setting limits by individual, by trial and error, by the tests of function and dysfunction, by insight and experimentation, these are the ways to be healthy. To simply say that there have been philosophies built in ancient times, that have proven dysfunctional beyond their functions, is disproportionate to rational thought or scientific inquiry.

Although a Libertarianism may lend itself to excess, Puritanism lends itself to being closed off, ignorant, fearful and paranoid merely by the format of its existence and design.

I think if America were a woman, She would see all this. She would be nurturing. She would expect the best of us, but help us when we were down. She would be Mom, Girl Friend, Spiritual counselor, Friend, Lover, Sister, Pal, Legal Adviser.

Bottom line, she would be understanding, compassionate, solid. And now a days, we need a friend like that, more than ever.

Cassavetes on Failure

“The most difficult thing in the world is to reveal yourself, to express what you have to. As an artist, I feel that we must try many things - but above all we must dare to fail. You must be willing to risk everything to really express it all.” - John Cassavetes

John Cassavetes is most notable as a pioneer of American independent film. His films are noted for their use of improvisation and a realistic cinéma vérité style.

John was certainly a great force in the Acting and Film Arts, though perhaps unseen by most until later, except by those closest to him. Vulnerability is intrinsic in what we do in the Media and Entertainment Arts. We open ourselves to the slings and arrows of frequently, those less knowledgeable, insightful, and compassionate, for what we do. But when it all comes together what comes out of it is simply amazing. We go through years of enduring painful efforts, to fail repeatedly and continue to pick ourselves up and try again. It is journey that is a sharpening stone that hones one's abilities and capabilities to the cutting edge for what we our Art is. And the public reaps the benefits of those efforts, in the end, being the culmination of what and why we do it.

For those who these are not the reasons for why they do it, there will always be those many who have and will fall by the wayside in giving up and being dashed on the rocks of critical deconstruction, never arriving at that coveted destination of critical acclaim. Sadly, for some, that will only come years after their demise; but I would argue, it is still worth the effort.

That being said, family and friends, loved ones must have a pinnacle of consideration in those years of trial and effort. Or it can cause you the pain and emptiness leading to a premature end that it has brought to many before you. Live life, love others, be open, be honest, be heartfelt in all your efforts and let those that love you have a place in that life, a hard life though it can be. In that way, even if you were never to achieve your dreams, you will have a life there to fall back upon in a cocoon of care, appreciation and affection.

December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989

About Cassavetes: "An alcoholic, Cassavetes died from cirrhosis of the liver in 1989 at the age of 59. He was survived by wife Gena Rowlands and three children (Nick, Alexandra and Zoe). Cassavetes's son, Nick Cassavetes, followed in his father's footsteps as an actor and director. In 1997, Nick Cassavetes made the film She's So Lovely from the She's Delovely screenplay his father had written. The film starred Sean Penn, as John Cassavetes had wanted. Alexandra Cassavetes directed the documentary, Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession in 2004 and in 2006 served as 2nd Unit Director on her brother Nick's film Alpha Dog. John Cassavetes's younger daughter, Zoe Cassavetes, wrote and directed the 2007 film, Broken English, featuring Rowlands and Parker Posey." - Wikipedia

Skunked by "The Rapture"? Forget The Tomato Juice

After the failure of the Rapture happening for the World, perhaps it would be best if everyone went to experience the Grace and Grandeur of the out of doors?

First, I've heard that some Christian families had sold everything expecting the Rapture (The Rape?) and gave it all to Harold Camping's church expecting to be gone in Saturday's Rapture. So, is he now going to give it all back? A spokesman has said that he really doesn't know yet. Doesn't know yet? Should there really be any question about it? I'm thinking, Jail Time for Fraud, or just for common sense?

Okay anyway, if God exists any and everywhere, wouldn't God most likely be easiest to experience in Nature? Regardless, you can get a feeling for the Godly, in Nature. But one does have to beware of the terrible possibilities along with the wonderful ones. That is, the wildlife. Christians and religionists tend to forget, we are animals, to the animals, we are meat. Carnivores, Bears, wolves, coyote packs, snakes, even people of a criminal or unstable nature in the woods, and skunks....

Skunks?

Oh yes. Have you ever had to deal with that? If you haven't, good, you're lucky. If you have, you know. I need say no more. That is a nasty thing to deal with. Small dogs, especially Terriers, have been known to die from getting sprayed by a skunk, if it hits them where they get their lungs coated with it. I can't even imagine what a nasty death that would be.

But for the most part, most people don't have to deal with that. Typically it is a near miss, or a pet gets sprayed for messing with a skunk. Getting rid of that smell is hard and no one seems to know what works, only what old wive's tales that have filtered down from generation to generation and typically don't work.

I've only had a few run ins myself. The worst was my German Shepherd. He came home one day reeking to high Heaven as they say. But it was obvious to me, that he didn't really get a full dose, only a partial one, and that was bad enough. What gets you isn't so much the smell, it's the smell, over time.

After a while, especially if you get away from it for a little while, then come back to it, like you get the dog in the bath tub, leave a kid with them to hold them in there, then run around the house looking for something to cut the smell while you make phone calls to family and friends, or hit the internet quickly to find a quick fix, and all you come up with is someone saying, douse it with quarts of tomato juice. I can tell you from experience, that doesn't work. That one time, someone did come up with something weird, and I tried it, and after a few repeated baths, it kind of worked, but not really.

Now the funniest run in I had was at Flaming Geyser Park in King County, Washington. It was a work picnic for my wife at the time. We both had picnic's that day, one in the morning for my work, and one in the afternoon for hers. I worked for a high tech group doing data transaction management, computer and web site work; she was a horse trainer and riding instructor. My group were techies, her's were cowboys and horse people. Both of us wanted to pull teeth at one another's picnic. Mine paid all the bills, but of course, we had to leave mine with people I had fun with, as were the kids, and go to hers where we were pretty bored, but had to be there to make the clients happy. Mine dealt with coworkers, hers were kowtowing to clients. Mine was more fun, simply put.

So while she was off talking to clients, I was with my son and daughter, trying to have fun. They were bored, I was bored. While we were sitting near some bushes and trees on a blanket at one point, eating food and just hanging out, my young daughter said, "Dad, look! How cute!"

I turned to look at what she was looking and talking about and there, the last thing I would ever have expected to see, about five feet in front of us, was a mama skunk and her three little skunketts. Yes, unbelievably cute, but, I mean, I couldn't believe it. Like a cartoon character just hit with a baseball bat,  I momentarily saw stars, just thinking about driving home with two kids (hopefully not two kids and a dad) reeking of skunk spray; not to mention what mom would have had to say ("How could you have let this happen?" did I say we're not married anymore?).

All I could do was say, "Don't move. Don't talk, or talk softly. Don't move quickly." We just sat there. The mama skunk looked at us and decided we were neither stupid or harmful and just continued on her way. My son wanted to bolt, being the older of the two kids. But I forced him to not move with a look. The skunks, luckily, made their way from one part of the foliage to another, at which point I said, okay, slowly get up and moveeee away from here."

And we did. One of the closest calls I've ever had. More scary than the parachute I had fail on me one time with a "cigarette roll" (compression twist) "function" ("malfunction" I don't know why we called malfunctions "functions").

Even more fear invoking than the attack of the Sea Cucumber I weathered through once at forty feet down while SCUBA diving off of Fox Island near the Narrows Bridge off of Tacoma, Washington.

However, not all of us are so lucky. Are we? I know because some people out there are nodding their heads who have been through a skunk attack.

Well, good news is available. Here is the solution for a skunk attack. It's not perfect, it's not immediate like another spray, it's not something you can make up and store for a possible attack, but it's something, and it works.

Here you go, a Skunk Spray Decontamination mixture that works, better living through chemical interactions:

1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide
quarter cup of backing soda
1 or 2 teaspoons of liquid dish soap

All the best to you in your dire time of need, should you ever need it.

Here is some more information on the topic if you suddenly have the desire to increase your education on Skunks:
From Science Friday at NPR
Here are a couple of other sites:
http://home.earthlink.net/~skunkremedy/home/
http://users.humboldt.edu/wfwood/chemofskunkspray.html

Well, it's Rapture time. Missing you guys already....

Message to my Earthbound friends: It's RAPTURE Time!

I sit now on high here with "the Dude", watching all that transpires below us on Earth and I do miss all of you my friends. You know, if you look around you, you probably won't see anybody missing, because, well....

The Dude Himself

We were all quite surprised up here how few people actually got Raptured today. I count, uh, one, two, three... about eight of us. Not one Fundamentalist among us, either. Surprising, yes?

Actually surprising just who got left behind and I never expected me to be sitting up here.

I've already put in for a day pass so I can come back and visit, and maybe hide out among you because it's unbelievably boring up here.

By the way, the only virgins up here are all like 72 years old and really annoying chatterers; some look a bit like Cenobites, actually. And no, if you're asking, no Osama Bin Laden up here.

Well, at least you can know, you now only have 1,000 more years of a Godless Earth before the absolute end. I do wish you all well. And yes, having that get out of jail free card", is pretty awesome, or will prove to be. Hang in there, you'll see what I mean soon enough.

Weekend Wise Words

Be Sharp! Be Brilliant!

Well, today is the day of the Christian's Rapture. Please beware of cars driving down the street with no one behind the wheel. According to reports, this could be like every other car on the freeway. Maybe stay home? I don't know. I might take my bike out on the freeway, but drive as I always do, quite defensively.

Some nutbar named Harold Camping, who back in 1994 said this was going to happen then, but when it didn't said, "Oh, wait, I meant 2011. Yes, that's what I meant."

So now, Harold is saying, that today is the end, the glorious end for those good Christians, and in his view, not all Christians are equal.

I can only say this, Be Sharp! Be Brilliant! Believe what is reasonable, not just plain stupid. Even Christians are against Mr. Nutbar, that is to say, Harold. First of all I have to say, I don't think I would follow someone named Harold. God wants a guy named Harold to be his spokesperson? Really?

Do you have any idea how many times someone has said the end is near, or today? I can give you a general, or more specific, idea. Check this list out. I'm not going to even try to list it here as it is a HUGE list.

All I can say is if today is the end for whoever Camping thinks are "good Christians", well, there will be a lot more room, food, and booze for the rest of us. And I'm moving into a much nicer house. And taking over the next really nice Ferrari Testarossa that I come upon. And I'm upgrading my bike.

Ever watch TV? Don't just get pissed. Fight back!

Why does Media Abuse its Consumers, their Life Blood?

Before I get started, I am not going to pay any attention at all to the argument that advertising pays the bills. That has become a kind of reverse moot point. And no, I won't explain that now. That is a fog that business people put up to blur what is actually happening; an a prioi, if you will, so we cannot at all discuss what the problem is, the dissatisfaction that is rampant. So for a moment, let's just look at the other side at the audiences who are being abused by these principles, the studios and those business people who are trying to make do, but pushing the limits to the point of poor taste and actually losing audiences.

I heard an article this past week that they are cancelling the show, "The Event." The article said that viewers won't even get to find out what the "Event", was.

Excuse me?

TV and cable are lucky I'm not an Attorney. Especially, a rich one. Because I would start a series of class action lawsuits against the TV and Cable industry.

Why? Oh, let me count the ways. Ever since I was a child I've been up against the TV media industry. When they first put on "Batman" with Adam West, my friends and I were upset. At first we thought, Awesome, a comic book hero on TV. We have finally been heard. But alas, it turned into a spoof of Batman, "The Dark Knight" almost immediately and only got worse from there. Yes, adults thought it was a hoot. It became a "thing" in Hollywood to get a cameo on the show. Yes, in hindsight that was cool, but I wasn't an adult back then and we thought they put on Batman, for us.

My friends and I sent the studio letters begging them to stop; to put something better on. Our suggestion was "The Green Arrow" with his sidekick, "Speedy", but the head of the studio, allegedly wrote back saying (and God I wish I had kept that) that they appreciated our letters but they had already invested a lot of money in Batman. Also that they had a new show they hoped we would like, "The Green Hornet". That show, with Bruce Lee as Cato, was a hit with my friends and I. BRUCE LEE! That other guy, his boss, only got in the way of our seeing Bruce on each episode.

Then there was the Star Trek fiasco. After only three seasons, they killed it. They said the numbers weren't high enough. Excuse me? In hindsight, do you think maybe they were idiots? Perhaps these "numbers" weren't a good way to rate a show?

Eventually, they added more and more commercials so that shows got shorter and shorter. They bleeped words, cut words, actually injected Different words because of FCC regulations. Nothing "questionable" was allowed on TV. Britain has far less stringent standards and they seem to have done rather well, morally speaking. So have other even less stringent countries.

Jump ahead to post millennium days. Now.

Cable shows are the worst at putting advertising up. We were told that if we paid for cable channels there'd be no commercials. What happened to that?

First, they had commercials. Then they started, on some channels to compress the ending titles of shows and movies to put in advertising. Then it got to the point that the speed or compression of titles actually made it impossible to read.

Now, they are putting up advertising on the actual show you are watching. Even if it's a pay channel. They take up the entire bottom third of the screen, even half sometimes, seemingly. It's offensive, it's irritating. It should be actually, Illegal. Once they discovered how valuable that space is, they went nuts. They have learned over time how to be intrusive but less intrusive. But that should fall under the 1960's ruling that you cannot use subliminal perception. Basically, they are trying to persuade us without our realizing it.

Do you ever notice these ads are there but you realize you really didn't notice it? That is subliminal advertising. Which is, illegal.

I would actually claim that the actual shows they show us, are our property, no longer theirs. I have long said, that to show a show or movie on TV (cable, whatever) it should be illegal to change at all what the original format was. No, "This show has been altered to fit your screen (pan and scan)". No compression show times to fit the time slot. No squeezing the titles to get in more ads. And certainly no showing ads during the actual show.

What really gets me, drives me up the wall, is when I'm watching a show, and they advertise for the show I'm watching, while I'm watching it!

One more, the relatively recent act of ending a segment of a show to go to commercial, then after the commercials are over, they show you what you just saw, in order to remind your stupid brain what you just saw, and to save having to do more show, by replaying as much of a show as possible, again.

Finally, the situation with "The Event". These studios have to stop giving us shows and then killing them, either so soon, or without any resolution whatsoever.

Case in point, Joss Whedon's billiant, "Firefly", "Flashforward" and now, "The Event." Not good enough numbers? The REASON I didn't watch "The Event" was absolutely because of how they have treated us, their viewing public. I don't WANT to get caught again investing my care and time to watch a show that will simply be pulled due to anything, other than the show's "story arc" has completed.

And so, I do think, much like passengers on airplanes need a "Bill of Rights" to stop being abused by airlines, leaving them on the tarmac for hours before taking off, and all the other things, viewers need a "Bill of Rights" for studios to stop abusing their people, the people who pay their bills. They should be trying to make us loyal like we love them, not like we fear watching their shows because of low quality or cut offs. Not low quality of a show, but the low quality of presenting and maintaining the show. All those things around what the production itself has done. Not to mention, what a slap in the face it is to the actors, writers, producers, directors and crews. They do a good job and they get cut. Off to find work elsewhere.

They used to know that it takes a while for a show to catch on. Now if you don't catch on in the first quarter, you're outta here baby.

Anytime we have that kind of power, it needs to be regulated. No I don't want the government to regulate creativity. I want the government to regulate the suits behind the creativity. I want the creatives to have more power, more consideration. And beyond them, I want the viewers to have more power. Perhaps we should unionize. There have been writers strikes that have changed the industry perhaps forever. Maybe not for the good, as it created "reality show", but then, some of those shows are great: "Top Chef" for one, and maybe some others, but that is arguable. Some have degenerated into trash, such as MTV's House Rules, which is a far cry from its first season.

The problem is, we can't just vote by not watching. We ARE watching, the shows we like, and they get cut anyway. We don't want to stop watching the shows we love, we just want them to stop being abused by compression, ads over the show, moving them around so much actually killing some shows by sheer stupidity. Although admittedly, those kinds of issues are basically gone now through things like DVRs and TIVO.

And that brings up the issue of how you rate a show watched later on DVRs. There is an entirely different article in that, how they abuse rating shows that are heavily watched on TIVO, rating them less if watched the next day and considering people aren't watching the commercials, the life's blood of shows.

Trouble with that theory is I always wait fifteen minutes into a show, before watching it so I can skip the adverts. So what's it matter if I watch it nearly live, or a week later. Believe it or not, I do see the ads, they are just faster. This is known by the studios and they are making ads that play well on fast speeds. It's an amazing area, really.

There is a new world. Studios and the business units behind them, need to catch up. They need to adhere to some rules that show care of their supporters, not just their advertisers. And the advertisers need to wake up even more.

Alienating your audience, is never a best use scenario.

Johnny Depp as The Thin Man? Yes, and I couldn't be happier.

Probably my favorite movie franchise of all time, would have to be, "The Thin Man."

Possibly my favorite movie of all time, would be the perfect little film called, "Casablanca" with Humphrey Bogart. Bogie rocks, don't get me wrong. I collect all his movies.

Nick, Asta and Nora Charles

But for all out couples power, entertainment and drinking fun, Nick and Nora Charles rock. I have all those movies.

But now, it's being remade with Johnny Depp and I couldn't be happier. Usually I don't like remakes like this, but I love the series and would love someone like Depp to take a run at it. I can't think of anyone else I could believe might be able to take on the role and do something positive with it.

The Thin Man series of films started in 1934 and starred William Powell and one of the hottest babes of all time, Myrna Loy. Both of them had great careers but when they put them together in this series, things really took off.

The Thin Man (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in Redbook. Although he never wrote a sequel, the book became the basis for a successful six-part film series which also began in 1934 with The Thin Man and starred William Powell and Myrna Loy. A Thin Man television series followed in the 1950s. Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich penned the screenplay and later the iconic "It's a Wonderful Life".

William Powell was a great enjoyable actor to watch, in any movie he was in, but my favorites was The Thin Man character.

Myrna Loy is one of my all time hottest babes in movies.

No really, I mean it.

No really, I mean it.

Okay, okay, enough of my obsessions. The story is set in Prohibition-era New York City. The main characters are a former private detective, Nick Charles, and his clever young wife, Nora. Nick, son of a Greek immigrant, has given up his career since marrying Nora, a wealthy socialite, and he now spends most of his time cheerfully getting drunk in hotel rooms and speakeasies. Nick and Nora have no children, but they do own a wire-haired terrier named Asta.

Charles is drawn, mostly against his will, into investigating a murder. The case brings them in contact with a rather grotesque family, the Wynants, and also with an assortment of policemen and lowlifes. As they attempt to solve the case, Nick and Nora share a great deal of banter and witty dialogue, along with copious amounts of alcohol.
It is the relationship Nick and Nora share, along with their ease at life, their drinking and having fun behavior and loyalty to one another, and respect for one another's autonomy, that I find so fascinating and enjoyable. I would do just about anything to BE Nick Charles. Too much fun.

As for the remake, Collider.com reported that" "Rob Marshall is to Direct Johnny Depp and John DeLuca to Produce. Last year, we reported that Johnny Depp wanted to reunite with his Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides director Rob Marshall for a new adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man.  We have now received a press release confirming that Marshall is on board to direct and that John DeLuca (Nine) will produce through the duo’s LUCAMAR Productions company."

The question in my mind, is who will take Myrna Loy's role and how in the world is anyone going to be able to replace HER? Good luck guys. But I can't tell you how much I hope you pull it off. I haven't wanted a project to work this badly in years.

Go for it. Best of luck!