I have been loading my MP3 player with a lot of movie soundtracks lately. A good soundtrack can add another level to a movie. Two examples of this are John William’s The Imperial March (Vader’s Theme)  and Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy of Gold. These orchestrations create an image and invoke a reaction even without seeing the actual film.

There are other composers I like to listen to because their works helped to set a tone for their television shows.

Mark Snow- The X-Files, Millennium

Bear McCreary – Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead.

Raman Djawadi- Game of Thrones

I also like listening to movie soundtracks because it is interesting to hear and see how music works with storytelling. I also like movie soundtracks because I can find artists that I am not familiar with. I also hear songs I know. Sometimes they can be mixed together for some interesting albums. For example, listen to any of the soundtracks for Quentin Tarantino movies. (Especially Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2)

There are two soundtracks I want to highlight.

I heard this concept once on a radio show. The DJ’s were talking about playing a song because you sincerely like the song. However, playing it over and over again leads to playing the song to be “ironic”. The problem, I think is you may end of in that zone of “Stuff Hipsters Hate”. And that is a whole another level of “pretentiousness”.

I had this need to have every James Bond theme song whether they are good or bad. This album collected almost every one ever recorded. All I can say is you never want to be caught singing the Carly Simon  alone in the shower. It could be “embarrassing”. I like the James Bond series because it holds to formulaic, escapist fun. It also points out the how “absurd” the idea of the Villain’s desire of “World Domination” is. You hear that Villain’s plan and think about it you come to the conclusion, “That is just crazy enough to actually work”. However, it is all undone by horny, martini-fueled guy dressed as a high priced waiter. So the reality of “World Domination” is just too silly. It also points out what we secretly miss in the current “War on Terrorism”- A sense of style and class. It needs to incorporate more women operatives with “politically incorrect” names.

I also want to make this other observation about the James Bond movie. For a guy who was supposed to be a “secret agent” EVERY Villain knew who he was. I think who ever ran the agency Bond work for had to constantly be writing the following memo. “TO EVERYONE who works in this office. Please follow this policy. SHUT THE FUCK UP about what we do. We need to comply with the “SECRET” part of this job.”

There is another soundtrack I picked up.

Sons of Anarchyis a show about people who choose to operate “between the rock and hard place.” The show may appear to be about an outlaw biker gang. It is more about “morality” of the characters given who and what they are. The album for me is another example of the “duality of the American Dream”. Desperation versus optimism.

One hand it is “Gimme Shelter”

 

And on the other hand “Forever Young”.

If there’s magic in boxing, it’s the magic of fighting battles  beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It’s the magic of risking everything  for a dream that nobody sees but you.                                                                             

Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman)

Million Dollar Baby

I think one of the problems with movies is people watching them seldom take the time to think about the metaphors that are at work within the storyline. This is maybe true when it comes to “boxing” movies. I feel people turn away from the genre because the focus too much on the violence that is unavoidable when it comes to sport itself. Instead people should watch the movie as being about a person who happens to be a “fighter”. The plot line to all “Fight” (regardless of the technique) is basically the same. There is no doubt for the most part that the fighter will make it to that “big match”. The difference is it about the characters involved. It is really about what they reveal about themselves in the process of getting to the “big match”. There is the difference between a good and bad “fight” movie. In fact, the final match in a way is almost “anticlimactic”. A good one focuses on the characters and the journey. A bad one puts all of its focus on that “Big Fight Finale”

This format of movie is more about the metaphor at work than anything else. We all have something that we “fight”. And that same thing “fights” us back. It is all a matter of circumstances that we are all trying to escape. And yet we cannot do it. Eventually we all have to face it. The chance to have a “break-through”. And at the same time risking the “break down”. There is no “escape hatch”. It is something that many people would never understand. Or even try to make the attempt to understand. In fact, finding just one person who gets it is almost impossible. However, it is much easier to find “hyper-critical” people who will work against you. And that is a bit of irony there. A “critical” person is more often than not a person who is not willing to put in the “blood and sweat” needed. It is more than likely they do not have a “clue” on how to it either.

I think every writer at some point becomes attracted to “fight” genre. There is a layer of drama that exists along with the actual fight itself. There is a good background story that gives you someone or something to get behind.

I recently watched Warrior. This is not about boxing but mixed martial arts. It seems even more brutal than regular boxing. I do not enough about the techniques per say in this sport. This movie does not go into explaining them much at all. If had it would be more of “how to” movie that would lose its dramatic storyline. This move surprised me. It is the story of two distant brothers who are both into mixed martial arts. One is haunted Marine back from duty in Iraq. The other is a former fighter who is now married and physics teacher who has fallen behind in his finances. He sees this as his only way to get out from with under. However, this activity gets him suspended from his teaching job. I think this goes to why people might question these characters. Like in real life. Why would anyone do this to themselves? The truth is there will always be people who will physically punish themselves in order to get something. Every athlete does this. But why do some get praised for it? And others are condemned. The other thing why would two brothers want to fight each other in this matter? Another part in this movie to watch is Nick Nolte playing their dad who throughout their lives has made a lot of poor decisions. He also quotes a lot from Moby Dick. It adds yet another layer to story line to watch for.

 

For me it started with the first Rocky movie. I also came back to this movie recently when I picked up a copy of the soundtrack. I know this series is a source of a lot of jokes and parodies. I will give you that Parts 4 and 5 open the door to that for sure. However, you cannot make a good parody if you do not have some affinity for the original source.

Rocky Balboa (The Sixth One) and it really got the franchise back to the “spirit” of the original movie. This story is about how a person who gains notoriety can become almost a parody of himself. There is a cable sports station that does a video game match to see who would today in fight between “Rocky” and the current younger champion. This leads to a battle of egos that leads to a match to find out the answer. Rocky’s son is grown up and is trying to escape his father’s shadow. However, he is down on himself and wants his father not to go back into the ring one last time.

Million Dollar Baby I saw in the movie theater when it came out. First, I am a big Clint Eastwood fan and he directed and starred in this one. He is one of the few Hollywood icons left that will get me to into a theater instead of waiting for it to come out on DVD. This movie had a story that drew me in rather than “pummel” me which happens in a bad “fight” movie. This story for me gave me a sense of the “emotional toll” that may be involved in such a story.

This movie is one of the three movies I have seen in the theater in which the audience left in silence. (For the record the other two were Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan) It was an emotional drain to experience. It felt like the aftermath of fight if you had been in the ring yourself.

Finally, there is another boxing movie to check out.

Ignore the tone of the trailer. It is not a pure comedy. Nor is it pure drama. It is something in between. This is probably why the marketing division had a hard time promoting the film. Sadly, too many people need to watch something that is solely in one category. This was also a bit of surprise. It stars Adam Carolla (who surely has a reputation) and it is loosely based on his own life. He is day laborer who gets back to his boxing for another chance. I also like his role because he takes the approach of “This is how I am. You can take it or leave it”. It is a sentiment I can relate to. The real “twist” is what happens during the final “big fight” match that separates this movie.

All these films have one idea in common. The dream. And with that the circumstances they find themselves in that stand in the way.

Frankie likes to say that boxing is an unnatural act, that everything in boxing is backwards: sometimes the best way to deliver a punch is to step back… But step back too far and you ain’t fighting at all.

Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman)

Million Dollar Baby

And not necessarily in that order.

I would rather start my days with caffeine via coffee. I hate to kick start the morning with adrenaline via anger as a result of other people’s “issues”.

Some days life’s “flavor” is a bit of a lacking feeling.

Yesterday had to start as one of “those” mornings. And there was not enough coffee in me to deal with it. It was an “FML” moment that I wished I could have avoided. My co-workers were arguing more than normal and earlier than usual. I will spare the details because they are really stupid and had nothing to do with me personally. However, one of the “combatants” later tried to recruit me to his “side” of the fray. I tried to be nice and said, “Leave me out of this one”. He kept going. I kept repeating. He kept going. Finally, I had to yell, “I DO NOT care one way or the other about it! SO leave me the FUCK out of it!” And now he is mad at me.

I realized now how hard it is to be Switzerland when it comes to world conflict. That country must secretly drink a lot and take a lot of aspirin on top of it in order to detail with the International Community. They must hide it in the cheese and the chocolate they are known for. But they are also known for the Swiss Army Knife. So I wonder about all of that.

There is a thin between sanity and insanity. You can see how easy it can be nudged from one side into the other.

There are reasons why a certain scene in a movie “strikes a chord” with an audience. The scene takes an everyday occurrence that people can relate to and amps the drama of it a bit.

I had one of those movie related moments recently. So let me set up the scene.

I have a bad habit that I need to break from. I usually try to run an errand or two on my lunch break. I really do not like to eat lunch in the break room. You will more than likely get interrupted by a co-worker or the delivery bell staying there. Plus it is not a good place to read or even attempt to write. It made me realize something “dark” about human nature. The more critical a person is the less likely they are to be actually doing something. So I try to get away for an hour every day. I have to get things done when I can. However, I am in the bad habit of fast food convenience. The other day, I stopped at a drive thru place and got a cheeseburger. It was the worse. I have never gotten a burger like this before. The burger came loaded with condiment/sauce ratio of about 1:1. It should have come with a spoon to eat it or sponge to clean it up. And to add insult to injury it was served on a stale bun. I could have gone back to argue with a manager over quality. So I could hear the standard, “This has never happened before”. And other “Blah. Blah. Blah” standard replies. So I could be rewarded with vouchers of more food from them. In a way it is kind of like giving the sniper a second chance after missing you the first time.

And then I remember this scene from the 1993 movie Falling Down. It is the story of divorced and unemployed man played by Michael Douglas who is pushed to far by society and decides he will not be pushed around by daily stressors in life.

I would never react like he did. But I understand.

Who says, “I can’t resist temptation”?

“Some people are useless on top of the ground. They ought to be under it,

inspiring the cabbages.” – Mark Twain

When it comes to American History the “Revolutionary Era” with all of its “players” in history has always held my interest. It is a fascinating time to think about how always these people and cultures came to a point to create an outcome of a totally new type of country to exist in the World at that time. 236 years later, we are still trying to fully understand what they did. The other part is not based entirely on a historical facts but more on the “archetypes” it created in the culture. “Western” genre will always hold some degree of “mysticism” in American culture. It probably started back in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territories from France. He then commissioned Lewis and Clark to go out and document this “unknown land”. America then became in a way a “nomadic” society moving and trying to make its fortune. “Go West” the motto for seeking that “fortune” became a part of the American Experience.

The “Western” premise usually consists of a person or family trying their hardest to work towards trying to hold on to just a small of the “fortune”. What has become known as the chance at that “American Dream”. (No one is ever going to admit to the duality that will always exist within the American Dream. It’s “strength and pride” versus the “fragility and desperation” to it. ) There is always some “bigger entity” trying to steal that away from them. The “Western” genre is made of archetypes of “good and evil” that make up the sides to the story. However, the most interesting characters are often the ones who exist somewhere between those sides. The legendary “Lone Man” in many cases.

There is a movie that touches on the previous points. I had never seen this movie before. I also do not know how I missed seeing this picture before. I just recently watched Sergio Leone’s 1968 movie, Once Upon a Time in the West. (Charles Bronson playing the man known as just “Harmonica” is a great performance. Sergio Leone created yet another great character of few words who conveys so much at the same time.)

I am going to diverge from the “Western” itself for a moment.

He may be 81 years and last appeared in a Western 20 years ago, Clint Eastwood will be forever the iconic symbol of the Western movie genre.

He recently starred in a car commercial that first aired during this year’s Super Bowl. The commercial was not selling a specific car although a car company was sponsoring it. However, Clint Eastwood was used as a spoke person who was urging Americans that they can rally together to get things moving once again. It is a message that needed to come from a man of “experience” who has seen enough of history that has taken place and realize that there is the other side. It had the right message of “reliance and resilience” for the country.

However, this is Presidential Election cycle year and political pundits had to weigh in. The problem in this country is everyone thinks that everyone motives are all “political”. Everything that anyone says is “dissected and analyzed” to a degree that the original message is totally lost. This problem really took off when President Clinton argued about the line between “oral and actual sex.” The memories. It was really fun watching the look on the Evening News guys’ faces when arguing about “blow jobs” during the Dinner Hour. But I do not want to start a political debate. I will leave that two people I know on Facebook. They are “fun vs. sad” and I am not going to say who is which one or when.

It took no time to hear how Clint Eastwood was being fooled into making a “subversive political message”. In election years, “nonsense” gets the headlines. A simple message this country needed reminding of. That is it. And you come off as an idiot if you think there is more to than that. I think all sides need to “ratchet down” on their rhetoric and some need to be hit with that “ratchet”.

Here is some reaction links. Fox News debate segment and Clint Eastwood’s own.

“Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid” – Mark Twain

I then heard Rush Limbaugh’s decree that Clint was “duped” into it. But he himself is a fan of Eastwood’s. Who has never watched any of his movies. Look at the character Clint Eastwood has portrayed over the years. His characters never “carry water for fool’s in positions of authority”. Dirty Harry just would not be the same if he “played along with those in charge”. Watch the “Behind the Scenes” segments on his DVD’s and he will explain why he took on the character or the movie. It usually has nothing to do with the potential box office sales. Or what others tell him he should be doing.

Plus, he ran for mayor of his home town and won back in 1986. Here is synopsis of that. Read it and you realize how wrong the “blow hard” got Mr. Eastwood’s character when it comes to politics.

I want to get back to “Western Genre” of movies for one more title to watch. Here is the trailer for it.

This movie does not play like a typical movie in its genre. This film is more of character study. It is also more of psychological story of what happens to a man (Jesse James) who becomes more of “myth” than anything. And on the other hand, it is also about the man (Robert Ford) who gets too caught up in his own “hero worshipping”. This movie is about the consequences of those two extremes.

NOTE. I used Mark Twain quotes in this piece because I like his commentary on American culture. He may have passed on but many of his points are still very much relevant to today’s society.

I recently lost my old computer. (Still not happy about it). I had to order a new laptop via my company’s worker discount program. And it took about three weeks to arrive. And it came loaded with more “issues” rather than software. It gave me time to catch up on some reading and watching movies. And I want to talk about two movies I saw in this time period.

The first movie I watched because I have some “disease” in my mind that requires watching movie sequels even though I have hated the previous ones. This title is no exception. Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon. It should been called the “Brown Side of the Bowl”. I know the Transformers series has been a very popular and successful franchise movie series. Lots of viewers and made a ton of cash. And it has been a series that has done so with NO CHARACTER DEVELPOMENT what so ever. I did not care for any of them. Another problem was this series had no continuous mythology to hold any storyline together throughout the three parts. You can criticize the Star Wars films all you want (especially the “prequels”) but those films remained true to its established mythology. The other problem is CGI (computer animation) needs to be used with some restraint because the filmmakers overloaded every shot with too much of it. It was very hard to focus on any real action that was taking place. The CGI seem to exist to point out, “Hey look at how good we are with this CGI!” or “Who needs a story when we can do CGI like this?” Plus, a loud soundtrack and rapid edits seem to beat the viewers into submission rather than allowing for a storyline drawing them in. If you have not watched any of these films do yourself a favor and avoid them. The metaphor is the following “A really bad paint job on a not really good car to begin with”. I am sure in the future; they will want to re-launch this series because new technology will make the CGI even better. How about redoing the film with an interesting script that has characters and clear storyline?

MEMO to Studio Execs: Regardless of what you think. Or don’t. The story is what matters in the end. Always did. Always will. So make THE STORY.

There was a quote on the back of the DVD case from a supposedly well-educated film reviewer. He claimed it to be “The Best Action Movie Ever Made”. He needs a refund on his film education. And a pile of John Woo directed DVD’s to see the error in his thought.

I do not get to the Movie Theater that much anymore to see new releases. It is usually a matter of time. And the fact, many of the films do not make me want to go and see them right away. A couple of weeks ago, I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I read the three books in Millennium Trilogy by the late Steig Larrson. I also watched the Swedish trilogy of films based on them. David Fincher who directed the movie has made some of my favorite films like Seven and the adaptation of Fight Club. It is interesting the various takes on this material from the original book. The latest version I am going to have to watch again at some point. It was a good film but given how well I knew the material I am going to need to do some rethinking to determine my thoughts on it. I must say the Lisbeth Salander character is one the more interesting characters to appear in mass culture popular literature in the last few years. She is better than anyone that appeared in the Twilight series that seems to dominate popular literature. (Note: I never read any of those books and the first film bored me to the point of turning it off. Emo-vampires are annoying.)

I know that films and the books they came from will always be compared to each other. However, the two mediums are totally different in their “execution”. A book can pack out lot information into in. A book is also read by the pace of its reader. A film on the other hand is a visual medium that has to “show” the story. It is also paced to fit into a smaller amount of time. Therefore, the story has to always be in “motion”. There is also the reality of economics between the two. The film cannot possible include all the finite details of the book. The important part is that both can create two unique works based on the same source material. A viewer has to give each a chance to interpret and reinterpret the story. It can be a real deterrent to get “over-hyped” on which one was better.

Finally, I want to talk about the experience of going to an actual movie theater. I like to go to the earliest showing possible but never on an opening weekend for that particular movie. This way I can watch with the smallest crowd possible. I want to have the lowest chance to be annoyed by the bad habits of people. For example, that guy who buys the extra-large popcorn and manages to slowly consume it over the course of two hours. I would mind it. However, this person does not possess the ability to chew popcorn with his mouth shut. The parents who bring their young children to Rated R movies are especially annoying. It is a movie for adults and the material is made for adults. It is unfair to subject a child to material they could not possible understand. I do not go to kid movies in the theater (even though I enjoy the Pixar movies) so keep your kids out of the Rated R showings. However, the one that annoys me the most is the couple who needs to discuss the film as it is playing. I do not mind the emotional response of laughter or fearful screams. It is the people who think their thoughts should be aired during the movie “Siskel and Ebert” style. The coffeehouse after the movie is the place for this discussion. These people always seem to want to sit right by me. And cannot understand why I stare at them or even tell them to “Shut up”. And they found me when I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The movie is thriller and there are a lot of clues being shown throughout the movie. They could not understand any of them and had to discuss each moment. It is a movie they will show you the next clue. SO SHUT UP AND WATCH. They were out of my voice range and I was not in a yelling mood at the time. And they did see me staring at them and motioning to SHUT UP. And I got nothing. Why can’t these people just wait for the DVD to come out?

You know in the beginning of a movie they have the public service message of reminding people to silence their cell phones. There should be this message. And goes like this. CGI is used to recreate Clint Eastwood circa the first Dirty Harry movie. And says something along the lines like this, “If you are one of those people who needs continuous explanation of movie or has to share their opinions. Get up and leave the theater now! Or people like me are going to find out if we fired 5 or 6 times at your ass.” That is the premise. I know it needs some fine tuning. We can agree that there is a need for this message at movie theaters.

Now that I think about Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro’s character in Taxi Driver) should deliver the message. You know he was crazy enough to do something about it.

Clerks where they could only film in the convenient store at night when the place was closed so the”Savages” put gum in the lock of the security shutters. This allows them to act as if there was daylight. So they had to make sure the front door was never in the camera shot.

 “There is nothing that needs reforming more than the habits of others” – Mark Twain

I am being to realize more and more everyday that I do not have a “pony” in every race of how people choose to live their lives. I have also been listening to the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast when time allows. There are a lot of people who discount him because he was the host of Fear Factor. His podcast is nothing like that. He has some really interesting conversations with various guests over a whole range of topics. The subjects are not always something I am familiar with or have any real interest in at all. That’s fine. Too many people are only listening to whatever they do for “affirmation” and not necessarily “information”. For example, when he goes on about mixed martial arts or his own personal experimentation I have no real interest in but I do not fast forward through them either. There may be a chance I may find something new out in another avenue. He made this observation on one of the episodes which I will paraphrase “The Internet has allowed people to have the ability to see the world as a whole but I don’t think the human mind is wired to do so”.  I think there maybe some truth to that. The Internet has allowed us to take photos or videos and distribute them at a pace that is only gaining speed. However, with all these available our ability to derive any real context from them has not caught up to speed. A picture may be worth a thousand words but too many people out there are not willing to say more 2-5 words about what they see.

The other gift or curse of the Internet is it allows anyone to post any thought they may had. Read any response to a news story or YouTube clip and I realized too many people really contribute nothing of substance in their post writings. Especially, the ones writing behind the disguise of a made up screen name.  The other problem is most people based their replies on the highlights or speaking points of 30-60 second news story. An immediate story is not necessarily historical fact. History takes some time to figure out. I think all of the 24/7 news channels need a shot clock and cannot keep hammering on the same points. After watching a news story, people must take that information like swimming after eating. You have to wait at least 20-30 minutes before spewing your reply.

The other downside of the Internet is it allows anyone to state their opinion on anything. This is not necessarily a problem. However, it is when people turn out the “venom” when they hide behind a made up screen name. Remember a time when people secretly wanted a secret identity to fight crime. But today’s reality is that too many use a secret identity to spew hatred and ignorance on message boards or they are trying to “screw” someone they should not be touching what so ever. It is amazing that you could choose to be anything in this life and people choose to be ignorant.

Another problem is the Internet is turning too many people into writers are the same level as “tmz style” website. They feel the need to post “snarky” commentary about everything and everyone with an over charged sense of their own morality. How many times have you heard this comment? “If I was there I could have handled things better!” The truth is you may have an idea but you will never know until you are there. The live streaming video of news event may show you something. But remember you are not seeing all of it. What the camera does not show is having an effect on what is being shown. The truth or the lie is all in the editing. It is also very easy to ride on your high horse of morals when you are safely out of range of the bullets.

(NOTE: Before I go on any further with this posting. I am going to be mentioning a TV series and a movie. I am not going to write full reviews of them. I am just going to point out some things to take note of. I do not like writing full on reviews myself. I am not against others writing them. It is just not my approach. I like to point out certain things to suggest there is something there to be discovered. I do not want to tell you how to fully interpret a work. However, I am always open to a conversation afterwards if you have seen the works.)

Our current political and social landscape is being overwhelmed by rants about ideological differences. There is also a lot of criticism about people who are finding themselves between the “rock and a hard place”. It all goes back to people with opinions who are not there. Right now everyone needs to sit back a bit, take a deep breath and try to gain some perspective with the risk of becoming a bit empathetic towards others. I think the human condition is complicated and always will be. There will never be a self help style of book to simply as a whole explain it all. However, there might be one or two for a small portion of it. People want facts on the human condition as it stands now but are being fooled if that is being delivered with accuracy by 24/7 outlets. Sometimes, a fictional time show or a movie can do that better if you give it a chance. To all my teachers, TV is not always going to “rot my brain”. There are good “morality” plays on TV.

The “Rock and the hard place” is a state most people do not choose to be in. However, there is TV series where there is a group of people who choose a lifestyle that will always leave them in that predicament. This show also points out the schizophrenic nature of America. We love a good crime movie like The Godfather and at the same time fear we will be the next victim of crime.

Sons of Anarchy is the story of motorcycle club in small town. They run guns for living but do not allow their rivals to establish drug trade within the same town. The local police make side deals with them to keep everything in balance. The police look one way and the club looks another. The characters in this show are not stereotypes either. They are not your stereotypical bikers as portrayed on other TV shows.  The creators have done a good job giving them depth. They are complex people who have both good and bad within themselves. They seem to always have to be making hard choices for their lives which make them interesting and empathetic.

The framework of this show is a modern day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.  The series starts with a young man finding a book from his dead father who was a founding member of the motorcycle club. The voice of the book warns of danger in the kingdom. The young man’s mother has remarried his father’s best friend in the club. The story builds from there. The first two seasons are streaming on Netflix.

LESSON: I was so engaged by this series that after the seeing the first two seasons that I had to go and find the third season on the Internet. It has not been released yet. So I did what I have never done before. I tried to view illegal copies on the web. And my anti-virus software went crazy. Lesson is. When trying to entertain yourself on the cheap you had better being using protection because you have a greater chance of contracting a virus.

Third Season is coming soon on DVD and the fourth season will soon be on the air.

“The rock and the hard place” is also being framed within the context of ideology. In other words, “I am right. You are WRONG!” The political discourse in this country reminds me of the behavior of five year olds on a playground. At least those children have the hope of growing out it. The adult politicians seem to regressing back into it. The worse apart about politics is it all about assigning blame and yet at the same time denying any responsibility for the situation. To ALL THOSE ELECTED TO SERVE. You can yell, “Fire!” all you want but could you also “PICK UP THE FIREHOSE and help put the fire out.” Remember you were elected to serve. Could you imagine a group of politicians working a fast food burger joint? They would all be yelling orders into the microphone and none of them would be working on the grills to make the burgers. They would then be dumb founded on why there were no burgers coming out. I would love to hear the “Democrat/Republican Conspiracy Spin” on why there were no burgers coming out.  It is all a lack of leadership by all. None of them know where to stand and what to do. And no one seems to be stepping up to the leadership position to assign people needed to get the job done.

Today, we have almost two years of campaigning for the Office of President of the United States. So we have two years of rants (not conversations) about ideological differences between those running for office and the person who has the office at the moment. And there has never been a time in the history of this country when only one party put someone up for the office. The problem is once I see the “D” or “R” after the person’s name I already know 95% about what they are going to say before they say it. It is just a lot wasted time and noise for nothing. I heard that the 2012 Presidential is going to have an estimated TWO BILLION DOLLARS spent on it. Given our current economic condition as a whole we should be outraged. There are so many better ways and causes to spend the money on. Here is my suggestion on how to stop it. The election involves way too much time and money for any agency to handle it. So I suggest we have the election run by E-Bay website. There is no way they would allow an auction (that what the election process has become) to go on for that long of time. And when the bid gets to an outrageous amount they declare “Fraud” and shut it down.

Here is a scene from a movie in which the undertone of the dialogue is about ideology. It comes from one of the closing scenes to end of the latest Star Trek movie. The Star Trek franchise is somewhat famous for it is use of time travel to bring different eras of characters together. Here brings together the new Spock with the original version (Leonard Nimoy)

Star Trek

— MOVIECLIPS.com

Spock (Zachory Quinto) is half Human, half Vulcan and in this movie he is trying to figure out which side of being will be the one he follows throughout his life. He is also at odds with Kirk (Chris Pine) through the movie in what is the best method to achieve the best results. In this scene, those conflicts serve as the undertone to dialogue between the two. Leonard Nimoy tells his younger self that he should embrace the differences between him and Kirk. The both of your approaches are complementing each other as you towards the mutual goal. There is a synergy here that has yet to be discovered in this time line. And by the way, ideology as an absolute is ultimately not as important as you perceive it to be.

I realized what makes Star Trek different than much of the other science fiction franchises is that it has an optimistic tone about the future. There will still be problems in the future but working together can overcome them. And none of the characters state their political party before saying or doing anything.

In comes down to this. Life will never be fair. There are way too lawyers on this planet to allow this to happen. Insurance policy would not need to exist. Photoshop was secretly developed by funding from cosmetic surgeons who sold the idea to magazine cover editors. There is a lot of money to be made by people who think those doctored photos are basis of reality. Let us not forget bartenders and strippers would be out of work too. Their jobs are to service people who are not happy.

This world while you are alive will never operate 100% by your ideology alone. So make peace with that.

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect” –    Mark Twain

I think the hardest think I have to constantly remind myself about is that there is never the perfect time to do anything. Any moment offers an unforeseen challenge. But why in my case does it always involve a trip to a home improvement store to get what I need to fix something? “Home improvement”. There is an oxymoron. Maybe it should be called a “home triage” store.

It is just another form of Writer’s Block in my case.

I was watching the movie Orange County. It was an entertaining movie for what it was. The premise of the movie is a young man played by Colin Hanks decides after the death of friend to change his life. He finds a book on the beach and decides he too wants to be a writer. He figures he needs to go to Stanford to get his degree. The author of the book happens to also be a professor at that college. However, he comes from a family that is dysfunctional and just cannot seem to provide the support that he needs. And this is what leads to the comedy aspect of the movie. It seems to me that this movie could be semi-biographical in my case. Without the comedy.

There is this one scene that stuck with me. Spoiler Alert. The Colin Hanks character does get a chance to meet the professor who made him want to be a writer. Kevin Kline plays that professor.

 

I guess when you try rewiring your brain in order to be a better writer can be tricky. If not borderline aggravating. I am constantly looking at how things are. How they might be underneath. I am trying to draw links between ideas that may not exactly appear to be connected at all. Then put the idea out there in hopes that it may cause a conversation to happen. I am sure that all of my ideas may not be validated by another person. I do not care if the reader agrees 100% with what I am trying to put forth. I would even be willing to someone who is willing to put forth how I may be wrong. I just welcome the chance to engage in a conversation.  Responses such as “That’s nice.” “Interesting.” “Good point” are not enough to really spark conversation. Most of the time those type of responses mean the person really did not read into the posting. The “Curse” here the need to get feedback and at the same time not always believing in it when it comes. It is hard to get the right audience needed. But it would be hard to realize it when that audience is really there. It is really hard trying to determine who the audience is by dissecting web stat charts. It is almost an extremely masochistic act. But I cannot help it.

Lately, I have drawn to other works that tell the story of people who are trying to deal with the circumstances in which they live. I just finished watching the first season on the HBO show Treme. The latest TV show from creator David Simon. He does for the city of New Orleans what he did for the city of Baltimore in The Wire.

This show starts 3 months after Hurricane Katrina and focuses on various people trying to rebuild their lives under those circumstances. I remember watching Katrina on TV at the time. I compared it to watching a modern day reenactment of a modern day Pompeii. We were watching a modern city being wiped off the map. I questioned if it was worth the cost of rebuilding. I think this thought process is a side effect of our vast sources of media. We get to “see” a lot of what is happening around the world at any given moment. The problem is we thinking “seeing” equates to “experiencing it”. This is why we also are hearing more and more from people in those dire circumstances are screaming louder ,”Unless you are here. You don’t know a thing!” Treme may not give us that direct experience. Great storytelling along with well defined yet complicated characters gives you a chance to pause and think. It draws you in. There was a lot about the culture of New Orleans that I have learned from this show. Just watch The Weather Channel every area of this country has its own issues. Extreme weather hits everyone. We have all watched the weather and have wondered to ourselves, “Why would anyone want to live there?” This series explores the reason of “Why”. It also has nice soundtrack of music from the city to listen along with.

Bad economic news is the never ending story. I have been hearing all my life. I have heard “We need to learn how to do more with less”. I have never seen this policy ever enacted on a grand scale across society as a whole. Just take a walk down any aisle in any store. Think back about a decade. And then realize. We have more things available to us than ever before. What I think the message should be steered towards is that of “We need to increase the efficient use of what we have.” However, the economic bad news has had the same effect as a bad weather storm. It has lead to many cities struggling to exist. Once again outsiders proclaim, “Given those circumstances. Why would anyone want to live there?” I came across this story a couple of weeks ago. The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan was listed as one of the most “in decline” cities in America. The people there started a grassroots effort to change their image. They got together to set a record for the “longest lip synched one take music video”. They did it with the song “American Pie” by Don McLean. Watch the video. It contains no edits. It is just one camera filming the action for the length of the song.

 

I think the song “American Pie” will always be part of the American Experience for years to come. It is a song about the belief in a dream. However, that dream is danger of falling apart in the current environment. However, in the end even with all of the uncertainty still at hand the dream persists. I think this song with return to some level of popularity in times of distressed economics. Along with uncertainty that seems to be heightened when the leaders involved seem to arguing more about ideology and trying to assign blame to the opposition. I just came up with another crazy idea. In the future, anyone running for office should have to act ONLY like a mime. That way they would be forced to perform action rather than just standing there talking on and on. It would be a nice change. Also I want to study the effects of all this non-stop political talk on global warming. All that hot air has to have an effect on something. What that is? I have no idea.

Bad weather. Bad economics. Welcome to Buffalo. Where I live.

 

It is a city that has more to it then chicken wings and losing Super Bowls. It has a lot interesting people that are for the most part nice and friendly. Unfortunately, on a whole we cannot elect any leader capable of moving the city forward. It is a city that seems stuck on nostalgia for time that is not coming back. It needs to redefined and adapt for a future. I hate hearing people complaining that it should be more like a big city (like NYC). It will never be that either. It needs to come to terms with who it is. It needs to take a lesson from what it takes to climb a mountain. You can see the top from down below. You see where you need to go to. However, you need to start at the bottom to go up. Everyone seems to take more time studying the top when they should take as much time studying the base where you start. The base is where the resources and support exist.

“Why would anyone live there?”

My relationship with this place and the people in it has changed over the years. Nostalgia can be a powerful feeling. However, the future has changed that nostalgia before it has even arrived. The hard part is coming to the realization that not everything grows together. Or at all. My needs and what is available on hand at that moment will most likely never be in total synch. Is it good? Is it bad? Or just what it is meant to be? Either way that may end up.

In a story, good character conflict can work towards a good story. Someday.

Besides, I have to start somewhere.

Here is the latest weather forecast about the things I have playing in my mind.

Given the title of this post the ablum that is on my heavy rotation is the 1992 album Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell by Social Distortion.

I have been going over my notepad. Yet again. I like the ideas but I know I can make some crazy leaps with them. So the latest idea (not this post) has not had enough “prep time” as of now to be posted. Somethings need more time than others. However, this mentality does not stop me from being impatient in lines. Especially when I am trying to get something done on my lunch break.

I have been watching old TV shows on the Internet lately.

The first show is the British sitcom Spaced. It is kind of hard to sum up its premise. Especially in a way to make sense to most Americans. This show is more for people who like surrealism. And for me that is known as the “everyday”.

And speaking about surrealism. I have been watching The Man Show. The show that featured Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla with their take on the male point of view. It may be politically incorrect and that is what made it funny. Political incorrectness cuts through a lot of bullshit to get to the center of a story. You may not like that center. But that’s on you. I like how in the first show Jimmy Kimmel said that the show was meant as a way to stop the “Oprahization of America”. (And that term is on Wikipedia. Sadly.) Their show has been off the air for almost a decade and she now has a cable network. This has to be a sign of something. And it is not good.

And now to move on to the next part in this week’s mental stir fry.

I have been thinking about how people are more complex than you can imagine. This thought pattern is the result of what I have been reading (too much to mention at this time) and the ideas on the notepad. However, it is hard to put anyone clearly in the good or bad category. Unless that person is Hitler. (But that is an easy call.)

That thought pattern is part of my morning ritual. I get up and get the coffee going. I am pretty much on auto pilot during this crucial task. I also make sure my MP3 player is charged and downloaded with that day’s podcasts. During this time I do some websurfing to see what I may stumble upon. I do this because I did learn a lesson. DO NOT repsond to any e-mails before the coffee has kicked in. And wait an hour to reply after that. It saves a lot of misunderstandings and pissed off responses.

I came across this article about Jodie Foster and her latest movie that co-stars Mel Gibson. I think it underscores people’s relationships and their perceptions.

It is odd that Charlie Sheen is praised for his bad boy image and Mel Gibson is condemned for it. But that is America. Schizophrenic in its judgment.

I have to say I am intrigued by the movie. And I am not going to judge it either way until I see it. (And this approach means my application to any fundamentalist organization is officially “declined”.)