Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
Fractal Wisdom
A few interesting videos to tide you over the weekend, from TED:
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Weekend Wise Words
Be Smart. Be Brilliant.
At any given moment, life is completely senseless. But viewed
over a period, it seems to reveal itself as an organism existing in
time, having a purpose, trending in a certain direction.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
Fractal Wisdom
A few interesting videos to tide you over the weekend, from TED:
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
Fractal Wisdom
A few interesting videos to tide you over the weekend, from TED:
Friday, April 8, 2011
Ten Ways to Break Writer's Block?
1) Get lost in a cave for a day and a half where you continuously hear a young boy calling, "Becky? Becky?" (imagination).
2) Accidentally fall out of an airplane and just happen to notice someone had thrown a parachute out after you (self actualize).
3) Slip over the side of an ice cliff that turns into a 3,000 foot slide (perseverance).
4) Be involved in a terrorist attack where no one gets hurt, but the terrorists (irony).
5) Find that the mummy you just found, is only 60,000 years old rather than 65,000 years old (disappointment).
6) Discover your spouse is having an affair, then remember your name is Gauguin and you are living in Tahiti in the 19th century (insanity).
7) Receive an email indicating that you are definitely not a mega lotto winner in the Nigerian lottery (ludicrousness).
8) Accidentally burn your novel you've been writing since 1999, and where a page that was signed by your favorite novelist, who you ran into at a yard sale (yours), only to discover that you didn't burn it after all but you accidentally sold it at the yard sale, only to realize that the favorite novelist of yours, actually stole it and its now on the NY Times best seller list (envy).
9) Get a call that your miniseries script has been optioned, but you've been written out of it through so many successive rewrites by the studio, that its now more similar to Barney chasing a white whale on an old whaling boat, than your tale of an over weight, overly expressive time traveler who has discovered the secret to cold fusion and brought it back from the future only to discover that someone else has already done that (disbelief).
10) Realize that in finally getting yourself to workout for any length of time, although you may now be falling asleep, you do feel energized to start writing again (despair).
2) Accidentally fall out of an airplane and just happen to notice someone had thrown a parachute out after you (self actualize).
3) Slip over the side of an ice cliff that turns into a 3,000 foot slide (perseverance).
4) Be involved in a terrorist attack where no one gets hurt, but the terrorists (irony).
5) Find that the mummy you just found, is only 60,000 years old rather than 65,000 years old (disappointment).
6) Discover your spouse is having an affair, then remember your name is Gauguin and you are living in Tahiti in the 19th century (insanity).
7) Receive an email indicating that you are definitely not a mega lotto winner in the Nigerian lottery (ludicrousness).
8) Accidentally burn your novel you've been writing since 1999, and where a page that was signed by your favorite novelist, who you ran into at a yard sale (yours), only to discover that you didn't burn it after all but you accidentally sold it at the yard sale, only to realize that the favorite novelist of yours, actually stole it and its now on the NY Times best seller list (envy).
9) Get a call that your miniseries script has been optioned, but you've been written out of it through so many successive rewrites by the studio, that its now more similar to Barney chasing a white whale on an old whaling boat, than your tale of an over weight, overly expressive time traveler who has discovered the secret to cold fusion and brought it back from the future only to discover that someone else has already done that (disbelief).
10) Realize that in finally getting yourself to workout for any length of time, although you may now be falling asleep, you do feel energized to start writing again (despair).
Honestly, seriously, there is no such thing as "writer's block". It is just what we have learned to label a period of time where we do not want to write. When you have writer's block, it is little different from not wanting to work out, to do your chores or many other such tasks. All you have to do, is sit down, or change your writing setting (novelty helps these kinds of things a lot), and write. Ancient East Asian Martial Arts knew this secret, and they have pushed
working out in natural settings over that of inside settings.
Using, "No mind", you only need to just write... words. It doesn't matter if the writing is any good, because writing is rewriting, after all. As with working out, it takes getting started, to get going.
Like Nike has touted in their old ads, "Just do it!"
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Obama: "I'm a citizen of the World."
What is wrong with Conservatives? Why are they so confused, fearful, ethnocentric and selfish?
An article on March 13, 2011 by The Illinois Conservative Examiner, said: Barack Obama Described Himself as a Citizen of the World, Not a Citizen of America..
The article says:
"He went to the UN and then the Arab League to discuss his Libyan options but not to Congress. He bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia and canceled our National Day of Prayer. So, should it not surprise you if we wonder if Barack Obama supported jihad in his Cairo Egyptian speech. A speech his mainstream media cheerleaders called monumental. Did the president of the United States incite the Egyptian and Libyan rebellions?"
Why are conservatives such cowards of life, so fear inspired? But then, I shouldn't be surprised because conservatives tend to be religious and most religions are based upon fear. A ridiculous and juvenile concept held over from childhood, but our own and our species.
I don't even know where to start with this article. Let's start with how we all need to start thinking of ourselves as "Citizens of the World". A citizen of the world is respectful of others, worldwide. Gives considerations to all people, everywhere and life on this planet. Once you start thinking globally, you have to be protective of life, because if you kill life locally, it may not really affect you, but if you kill it world wide, your a dead one, you are.
The article claims President Obama went to outsiders, the UN, the Arab League. And it's about time we stopped being ignorant and acting like cowboys. We need to act like scholars (oh wait, Pres. Obama, IS a scholar). We need to be open, as transparent as is reasonable. We need to act with others, not alone because we cannot afford it and it spawns ill feelings by other countries, which is just stupid, if we don't have to.
One bows to royalty, we can give that because we know ourselves, we are sure of our own place in the world. And it's showing respect, in the way of that person's country, and they are treated like royalty, so we work with that.
Why did Pres. Obama go to others about military action in Libya and not our own Congress? How about, by law, he doesn't have to due to THE WAR POWERS ACT OF 1973 (which Richard Nixon vetoed but got passed anyway), until ninety days after he initiate action, but his entire decision was to stop an emergency situation of people being slaughtered, then pulled back as soon as was possible. We are now out of there, and he has no need to go to Congress.
The New York Times put it this way:
"The law requires the President to notify Congress in a timely fashion when American troops are being sent abroad with a strong probability that they will engage in combat. It calls for the troops to be removed from foreign territory within 90 days unless Congress explicity gives approval for them to remain. In practice, the law has proven largely ineffective because of Presidential resistance and the willingness of Congress to stand aside and allow the White House to assume the political risks of sending troops abroad. In its place, Congress and the president have often negotiated congressional authorizations of force, measures that give prior approval to combat under certain conditions -- though those conditions have been vague enough to leave critics complaining that they, too, essentially give the White House a free hand."
So, what's the problem? What did he do wrong? Did he go to war and move thousands into a country, beat it down, take it over, and have no intention of getting out within ninety days? No, that would be little Bush, "W" himself.
So, what's the problem? Well, there is none. Other than conservatives being frightened of their own shadows ninety percent of the time.
An article on March 13, 2011 by The Illinois Conservative Examiner, said: Barack Obama Described Himself as a Citizen of the World, Not a Citizen of America..
The article says:
"He went to the UN and then the Arab League to discuss his Libyan options but not to Congress. He bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia and canceled our National Day of Prayer. So, should it not surprise you if we wonder if Barack Obama supported jihad in his Cairo Egyptian speech. A speech his mainstream media cheerleaders called monumental. Did the president of the United States incite the Egyptian and Libyan rebellions?"
Why are conservatives such cowards of life, so fear inspired? But then, I shouldn't be surprised because conservatives tend to be religious and most religions are based upon fear. A ridiculous and juvenile concept held over from childhood, but our own and our species.
I don't even know where to start with this article. Let's start with how we all need to start thinking of ourselves as "Citizens of the World". A citizen of the world is respectful of others, worldwide. Gives considerations to all people, everywhere and life on this planet. Once you start thinking globally, you have to be protective of life, because if you kill life locally, it may not really affect you, but if you kill it world wide, your a dead one, you are.
The article claims President Obama went to outsiders, the UN, the Arab League. And it's about time we stopped being ignorant and acting like cowboys. We need to act like scholars (oh wait, Pres. Obama, IS a scholar). We need to be open, as transparent as is reasonable. We need to act with others, not alone because we cannot afford it and it spawns ill feelings by other countries, which is just stupid, if we don't have to.
One bows to royalty, we can give that because we know ourselves, we are sure of our own place in the world. And it's showing respect, in the way of that person's country, and they are treated like royalty, so we work with that.
Why did Pres. Obama go to others about military action in Libya and not our own Congress? How about, by law, he doesn't have to due to THE WAR POWERS ACT OF 1973 (which Richard Nixon vetoed but got passed anyway), until ninety days after he initiate action, but his entire decision was to stop an emergency situation of people being slaughtered, then pulled back as soon as was possible. We are now out of there, and he has no need to go to Congress.
The New York Times put it this way:
"The law requires the President to notify Congress in a timely fashion when American troops are being sent abroad with a strong probability that they will engage in combat. It calls for the troops to be removed from foreign territory within 90 days unless Congress explicity gives approval for them to remain. In practice, the law has proven largely ineffective because of Presidential resistance and the willingness of Congress to stand aside and allow the White House to assume the political risks of sending troops abroad. In its place, Congress and the president have often negotiated congressional authorizations of force, measures that give prior approval to combat under certain conditions -- though those conditions have been vague enough to leave critics complaining that they, too, essentially give the White House a free hand."
So, what's the problem? What did he do wrong? Did he go to war and move thousands into a country, beat it down, take it over, and have no intention of getting out within ninety days? No, that would be little Bush, "W" himself.
So, what's the problem? Well, there is none. Other than conservatives being frightened of their own shadows ninety percent of the time.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Women in combat
What do you think about women in combat duty? Are gender differences in the risk of PTSD? More than 40,000 American women served in the war against Iraq. The Marine Corps awarded twenty-three women the Combat Action Ribbon
for service in the Persian Gulf War because they were engaged by Iraqi
troops. Desert Storm was a huge turning point for women, much like
Vietnam was for African-Americans, and it showed that modern war
boundaries between combat and non-combat zones are being blurred. It
makes no sense to cling to semantics (combat vs combat support) given
the reality of war.
In an effort to get closer to the local population, American female soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are being encouraged to wear a Muslim headscarf when interacting with civilians. But some question whether the practice constitutes cultural sensitivity or a form of appeasement that is degrading to U.S. soldiers. Having female soldiers in countries where the society and religion are male dominated is always a risky situation as it's very easy for humiliation to take account of a national's reaction to a soldier who is not a man. Sensitivity is necessary, something women have historically been better at than women. It's a possible situation where women may be able to somewhat at least, counter the paradigm with appropriate interactions. However, there will also always be times where it will only lead to disaster. Since soldiers fighting soldiers will always lead to things like that, it's a calculated risk, as war always is.
One survey showed 86 percent of soldiers have no problem with females fighting alongside them. And they are now, more and more are in coed units. The French, German, Danish, and Canadian women are now serving in their countries as direct ground combat forces. There are some incidents of sexual harassment and inappropriate romantic relationships, but these are typical issues in these kinds of situations and require education, monitoring and management.
Women cannot typically carry the same amount of weight that regular male troops can, but then they even have trouble with their loads. Where they shouldn't be carrying more than 60-80 pounds, they are not infrequently carrying 100-120 pounds, sometimes more than half their weight. But women can be more agile, fit into places many men cannot. And as domestic Police agencies have discovered, women can frequently diffuse situations that would immediately lead to confrontations with a male component. Perhaps because of a life long situation of living as a smaller, weaker gender, women have found how to think around aggressiveness and direct confrontations, something that is typically better utilized than putting ones' head down and barreling into a wall of opposition.
So, if most issues about multi gender field units can be worked through, the question comes about how can women handle the stress, emotional and mental?
One study, Women in combat and the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, found this:
"These findings suggest that military duty in Iraq confers a similar risk of PTSD and depression by gender. It is likely that this risk has more to do with the intensity and frequency of combat experiences than gender. However, other variables need to be assessed in future studies to better understand the relationship of direct combat to mental health outcomes among women compared with men. These variables include the specific nature of the combat experiences, the prevalence of mental health problems prior to deployment, complicating factors such as sexual harassment or abuse in the deployed environment, and the trajectory of gender differences over time following return from deployment. As further studies emerge it is likely that there will not be a simple conclusion about the relationship of gender and combat to the mental health of veterans of this war. The available data point to an important hypothesis that combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, due to the high intensity and persistent level of threat, acts as a great equalizer of risk, resulting in similar rates of PTSD and depression for men and women. The article by Rona and colleagues underscores the importance of continued research and efforts by clinicians, policy makers and military leaders to address mental health problems among male and female war veterans."
I was told back in the 60s or 70s on this topic, that a country needs a gender to be home, and sane, mentally and emotionally stable and ready to help the men when they return with their issues from having been in Hell and then find themselves trying to remain sane in a peace time environment. It sounded reasonable at the time. But then if women want to go to war, there will always be those men and women back home to help them through their nightmare, to find their way back.
Does this make it okay for women to be in combat? No. Should women be in combat? When I consider the Israeli way of dealing with this, I would have to say yes. When I think of the American way of doing things, I almost want to say, no. But it is not for me to choose. This IS America. If women want to go to war, it is their right, and that pretty much ends it there.
It's been proved it can be effectively and functionally done. There is no real reason not to allow them to do so. It is there choice. America has tried for decades now, ever since the original Temperance movement, perhaps because of our sad Puritan beginnings, to try to protect it's citizens in an almost Big Brother way. But they, these citizen groups, the Government, need to back off and remember what America is all about. Freedom, choice, and the pursuit of Happiness. If that for a citizen, man or woman, is to go to war, then that is their choice and we need to support them to seek their "bliss".
If you don't like the idea of women in war, I would submit to you, we need to stop being at war, for both women, and men.
In an effort to get closer to the local population, American female soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are being encouraged to wear a Muslim headscarf when interacting with civilians. But some question whether the practice constitutes cultural sensitivity or a form of appeasement that is degrading to U.S. soldiers. Having female soldiers in countries where the society and religion are male dominated is always a risky situation as it's very easy for humiliation to take account of a national's reaction to a soldier who is not a man. Sensitivity is necessary, something women have historically been better at than women. It's a possible situation where women may be able to somewhat at least, counter the paradigm with appropriate interactions. However, there will also always be times where it will only lead to disaster. Since soldiers fighting soldiers will always lead to things like that, it's a calculated risk, as war always is.
One survey showed 86 percent of soldiers have no problem with females fighting alongside them. And they are now, more and more are in coed units. The French, German, Danish, and Canadian women are now serving in their countries as direct ground combat forces. There are some incidents of sexual harassment and inappropriate romantic relationships, but these are typical issues in these kinds of situations and require education, monitoring and management.
Women cannot typically carry the same amount of weight that regular male troops can, but then they even have trouble with their loads. Where they shouldn't be carrying more than 60-80 pounds, they are not infrequently carrying 100-120 pounds, sometimes more than half their weight. But women can be more agile, fit into places many men cannot. And as domestic Police agencies have discovered, women can frequently diffuse situations that would immediately lead to confrontations with a male component. Perhaps because of a life long situation of living as a smaller, weaker gender, women have found how to think around aggressiveness and direct confrontations, something that is typically better utilized than putting ones' head down and barreling into a wall of opposition.
So, if most issues about multi gender field units can be worked through, the question comes about how can women handle the stress, emotional and mental?
One study, Women in combat and the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, found this:
"These findings suggest that military duty in Iraq confers a similar risk of PTSD and depression by gender. It is likely that this risk has more to do with the intensity and frequency of combat experiences than gender. However, other variables need to be assessed in future studies to better understand the relationship of direct combat to mental health outcomes among women compared with men. These variables include the specific nature of the combat experiences, the prevalence of mental health problems prior to deployment, complicating factors such as sexual harassment or abuse in the deployed environment, and the trajectory of gender differences over time following return from deployment. As further studies emerge it is likely that there will not be a simple conclusion about the relationship of gender and combat to the mental health of veterans of this war. The available data point to an important hypothesis that combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, due to the high intensity and persistent level of threat, acts as a great equalizer of risk, resulting in similar rates of PTSD and depression for men and women. The article by Rona and colleagues underscores the importance of continued research and efforts by clinicians, policy makers and military leaders to address mental health problems among male and female war veterans."
I was told back in the 60s or 70s on this topic, that a country needs a gender to be home, and sane, mentally and emotionally stable and ready to help the men when they return with their issues from having been in Hell and then find themselves trying to remain sane in a peace time environment. It sounded reasonable at the time. But then if women want to go to war, there will always be those men and women back home to help them through their nightmare, to find their way back.
Does this make it okay for women to be in combat? No. Should women be in combat? When I consider the Israeli way of dealing with this, I would have to say yes. When I think of the American way of doing things, I almost want to say, no. But it is not for me to choose. This IS America. If women want to go to war, it is their right, and that pretty much ends it there.
It's been proved it can be effectively and functionally done. There is no real reason not to allow them to do so. It is there choice. America has tried for decades now, ever since the original Temperance movement, perhaps because of our sad Puritan beginnings, to try to protect it's citizens in an almost Big Brother way. But they, these citizen groups, the Government, need to back off and remember what America is all about. Freedom, choice, and the pursuit of Happiness. If that for a citizen, man or woman, is to go to war, then that is their choice and we need to support them to seek their "bliss".
If you don't like the idea of women in war, I would submit to you, we need to stop being at war, for both women, and men.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Happiest Place on Earth - a movie
I found this very cool project (film) and I really like what they are doing. If you want to throw $15 (or more) to help, go to their site and pledge a few bucks:
Check them out:
All that being said, check out the Top 6 sites for raising money for a film.
Our Story
Exactly one week before Thanksgiving 2008, director John Goshorn was laid off from his job in local television.
"As I wrestled with questions of why and how, and developed coping strategies, I was also struck by how my circumstances could have been much worse, how desperate I might have become if they were, and why. As I wrote, I realized that I was far less concerned with the mechanics of the plot than the national – and human – psychology the plot revealed. Namely, the tendency to believe that we should remain immune from harm, that the end of restoring “what’s ours” justifies whatever action will get us there, and our inability to accept that perhaps the life we perceive to be “ours” was never real in the first place, just an attempt to recreate a fairy tale."
Over a period of nine months of unemployment, this thinking developed into the story of the feature film, The Happiest Place on Earth:
Days after Jonah and Maggie Price move into their first home, he loses his newspaper job, jeopardizing their dream of finally starting a family after a decade together. Maggie picks up a second job, and they attempt to muddle through, but Jonah can’t find work and they find themselves in danger of losing their home. After a particularly humiliating job interview, Jonah retreats to the coast to console himself, but doesn’t come back. When he is declared missing, Maggie must weigh her material circumstances against her hopes of his safe return.
All that being said, check out the Top 6 sites for raising money for a film.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Gogol Bordello - Just a band?
A few years ago I was watching Henry Rollins Show.
I miss that show. Henry, of Black Flag, a punk band that used to scare the crap out of parents and sometimes fans alike, had a show formatted so it started with his, scary good looking face, leading to an introduction of his show.
Then he would have a guest, a Rant he called "Sounding Off", where he would scream at you for a few minutes on some relevant topic, during which he would be intermittently funny, serious and pissed off. And you felt he had a right to be and you had a right to be and you felt good that someone else felt that way. More than once he introduced me to topics, things, people, music, I'd had no idea about. He would then have a musical guest on at the end doing a couple of songs.
Why, don't we have that kind of quality, speaking to a group, such as we are?
I don't know. Has to be a bunch of us out there. Well, at least Henry did it for a while.
So one night he had on a band new to me. I didn't know what to do, other than to call my kids downstairs and say, check this band out: Gogol Bordello. We realized later my friend Dave had given us a "Cool" CD of some music he had now idea where it was from. It was Gogol for the most part, from the film, "Everything is Illuminated".
Eventually my two kids and I went to their concert in Seattle and it was unbelievably cool. The loudest bass I'd ever experienced. I love these guys and wow can they party on stage! There is a documentary where a woman took Eugene, the lead singer, back to his homeland (The Pied Piper Of Hützovina).
Wikipedia:
"Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of New York City, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring. Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music. The band incorporates minor-key accordion and violin (and on some albums, saxophone) mixed with punk and dub.
"Gogol" comes from the name Nikolai Gogol. As one of the most influential writers in Russian and Ukrainian literature, Gogol paved the way for the likes of Kafka and Dostoevsky. He also serves as an ideological influence for the band because he "smuggled" Ukrainian culture into Russian society, which Gogol Bordello intends to do with Gypsy/ East-European music in the English-speaking world. "Bordello", in Italian, refers to a brothel or a "gentleman's club".
"The band was originally titled Hütz and the Béla Bartóks, but Eugene Hütz says that they decided to change the name because "nobody knows who the hell Béla Bartók is in the United States". The band played their first show as the unofficial band at an after-hours club called Pizdetz where they became the house band and DJ Hütz became the house DJ."
I knew the first time I saw this band on The Henry Rollins Show was something special and they don't disappoint when you see them live. One or more of them have been on TV, film and documentaries.
For Pamela Racine photo
Gogol may not be the music for the masses, they may even be an acquired taste for many, but you can't deny their energy, their positive attitude and their lighthearted orientation coming out of a group of people who have had a rough time of it over the centuries. Regardless, they are one of my all time favorite bands.
I miss that show. Henry, of Black Flag, a punk band that used to scare the crap out of parents and sometimes fans alike, had a show formatted so it started with his, scary good looking face, leading to an introduction of his show.
Then he would have a guest, a Rant he called "Sounding Off", where he would scream at you for a few minutes on some relevant topic, during which he would be intermittently funny, serious and pissed off. And you felt he had a right to be and you had a right to be and you felt good that someone else felt that way. More than once he introduced me to topics, things, people, music, I'd had no idea about. He would then have a musical guest on at the end doing a couple of songs.
Why, don't we have that kind of quality, speaking to a group, such as we are?
I don't know. Has to be a bunch of us out there. Well, at least Henry did it for a while.
So one night he had on a band new to me. I didn't know what to do, other than to call my kids downstairs and say, check this band out: Gogol Bordello. We realized later my friend Dave had given us a "Cool" CD of some music he had now idea where it was from. It was Gogol for the most part, from the film, "Everything is Illuminated".
Eventually my two kids and I went to their concert in Seattle and it was unbelievably cool. The loudest bass I'd ever experienced. I love these guys and wow can they party on stage! There is a documentary where a woman took Eugene, the lead singer, back to his homeland (The Pied Piper Of Hützovina).
Wikipedia:
"Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of New York City, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring. Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music. The band incorporates minor-key accordion and violin (and on some albums, saxophone) mixed with punk and dub.
"Gogol" comes from the name Nikolai Gogol. As one of the most influential writers in Russian and Ukrainian literature, Gogol paved the way for the likes of Kafka and Dostoevsky. He also serves as an ideological influence for the band because he "smuggled" Ukrainian culture into Russian society, which Gogol Bordello intends to do with Gypsy/ East-European music in the English-speaking world. "Bordello", in Italian, refers to a brothel or a "gentleman's club".
"The band was originally titled Hütz and the Béla Bartóks, but Eugene Hütz says that they decided to change the name because "nobody knows who the hell Béla Bartók is in the United States". The band played their first show as the unofficial band at an after-hours club called Pizdetz where they became the house band and DJ Hütz became the house DJ."
I knew the first time I saw this band on The Henry Rollins Show was something special and they don't disappoint when you see them live. One or more of them have been on TV, film and documentaries.
 |
| Eugene Hütz with Gogol Bordello live at Pisa, July 2010 |
- 2004 - Kill Your Idols - Hütz was interviewed in this documentary about New York's "No Wave" music scene.
- 2005 - Everything Is Illuminated - In Liev Schreiber's directorial debut, which stars Elijah Wood, the role of Alexander Perchov was played by Eugene Hütz. It includes cameo appearances by other Gogol Bordello members in the train scene.
- 2006 - The Pied Piper Of Hützovina - Documentary by Pavla Fleischer about a road trip she and Eugene Hütz took to Ukraine to trace his roots.
- 2006 - Wristcutters: A Love Story - "Eugene", played by American actor Shea Whigham, is partly based on Eugene Hütz, whose music ("Through the Roof and Underground" and "Occurrence on the Border") is featured in the film as that recorded by the character's old band.
- 2008 - Filth and Wisdom - The entire band appeared in this independent film directed by Madonna. Eugene Hütz is the protagontist. Madonna also allowed Eugene to add his own dialogue into the script.
- 2008 - Gogol Bordello Non-Stop - The development of the band was documented in this film directed by Margarita Jimeno. It follows the band's rise from underground legends to international fame from 2001 to 2007.
- 2009 - Larger Than Life in 3D - Live High-def digital concert footage shot in stereoscopic 3-D at the Austin City Limits festival in October 2009.
- 2009- Live From Axis Mundi: Professionally recorded live concert footage shot in New York.
 | |
| Elizabeth Chi-Wei Sun |
Gogol may not be the music for the masses, they may even be an acquired taste for many, but you can't deny their energy, their positive attitude and their lighthearted orientation coming out of a group of people who have had a rough time of it over the centuries. Regardless, they are one of my all time favorite bands.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Weekend Wise Words
Be Smart. Be Brilliant.
“A word to the wise isn’t necessary, it is the stupid ones who need all the advice.”
—Bill Cosby
“Many years ago I chased a woman for almost two years, only to discover that her tastes were exactly like mine: we both were crazy about girls.”
—Groucho Marx
“Not all chemicals are bad. Without hydrogen or oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.”
—Dave Berry
“I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception.”
—Groucho Marx
“Some see the glass as half-empty, some see the glass as half-full. I see the glass as too big.”
—George Carlin
“Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.”
—Chuck Norris
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then give up. There’s no use in being a damn fool about it.”
—W.C. Fields
“The man who can’t dance thinks the band is no good.”
—Polish Proverb
“When you’re in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, ‘Damn, that was fun.’”
—Unknown
“A word to the wise isn’t necessary, it is the stupid ones who need all the advice.”
—Bill Cosby
“Many years ago I chased a woman for almost two years, only to discover that her tastes were exactly like mine: we both were crazy about girls.”
—Groucho Marx
“Not all chemicals are bad. Without hydrogen or oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.”
—Dave Berry
“I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception.”
—Groucho Marx
“Some see the glass as half-empty, some see the glass as half-full. I see the glass as too big.”
—George Carlin
“Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.”
—Chuck Norris
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then give up. There’s no use in being a damn fool about it.”
—W.C. Fields
“The man who can’t dance thinks the band is no good.”
—Polish Proverb
“When you’re in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, ‘Damn, that was fun.’”
—Unknown
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