I think there is a tendency for people to dismiss what you find based on the way you came to the material. It really should not matter. The point is you discovered something for yourself.

The “fantasy” genre of literature is something I had pretty much abandoned after high school. I also never had a good reason to return to anything within the genre except for The Lord of the Rings series. So I had not been paying attention to the genre. I am always looking for new TV series to watch and I heard reviews for HBO’s new series Game of Thrones. (I do not have cable so I have to wait for the DVD’s to hit Netflix. So when it comes to TV series especially the ones on cable I am always about 6 months to a year behind in watching them.) The series is based on the books by George R.R. Martin who is a writer I was not familiar with either. I wanted to read at least the first in the series to see how well (or maybe not) the TV series plays to the book. I was curious on how the adaptation may work. However, the DVD’s will not be available until March.

I bought the book and 800 pages of story made take pause. I have not tackled reading a book of this amount in a while. However, I made it a goal to read at least one chapter a day. Side track a moment. It is also a goal of mine to read new authors this year and tackle more from my “To Be Read” pile.

This book took about 2 ½ weeks to read. And it was so worth the time. This book is filled with very intriguing characters. Each chapter is written from the “point of view” of its various characters. There is continuity between them all. It is a long book but it rewards the reader. Every time, there was something of “cliché” moment for “fantasy” writing the author goes the other way. Then I found myself drawn in even more to the story line where it became a book that was hard to put down.

I am not going to write a full review of the details. I want to give you the opportunity to discover it for yourself. I believe this work is worth the effort. I was so taken by the story than the day after I finished this book I immediately picked up the second volume Clash of Kings. It looks like Mr. Martin’s series is going to be with me for the next two months. After that I will need a new author to tackle from another genre. I am open to suggestions. I do not want to get stuck for too long in any one particular genre.

I was thinking why this series has gained some of the spotlight when it comes to our popular culture. First, HBO knows how to promote a series. They are also more willing to take on shows that big 3 networks would not have the courage to show. But then again the FCC has a thin skin when it comes to the few of the “offended”. A series also brings attention to the book it is based on. In this case, I think it is the tone of this book which is capturing the audience. This is a story about the most “seductive and addictive” drug ever known and that is “power”. This story highlights various factions trying to obtain that “power” and the characters that are caught up in that struggle.

This book I think captures some undertones that are going on in the U.S. culture at this time. The first thing is these are characters that swear oaths and go into actions to defend those oaths. We live in a culture where it seems like those who are in “power” are constantly saying “I did not say that. I was taking out of context.” We have too many so called leaders now that hide behind lawyers, insurance regulations and opinion polls. People want to experience people who are the “antithesis” of that even if it is in a fictional setting. Secondly, I also think that our current Presidential Election process (or better yet “farce”) is bringing people to this series. In the story, it is a kingdom being ripped apart by various factions with the goal somehow reuniting that same kingdom as a whole someday. How this series will come to that ending is yet to be known (at least for myself)? It is not healthy for a society to have at least two years of two parties with various factions fighting it out for the job of the President. Two years running for a four year job is not an efficient way to run a society. At least not forward and up. But it seems like a good way to “go into the ground”. Ideology cannot be fought on a daily basis. There has to be some “pragmatics” at work. This book says as much about our present times as it does for the time in which it set.

“Everybody thinks of themselves as being slightly above average” – Garrison Keillor

I heard that confession is good for the soul. And what little I have left at this point could probably use some. I think that I am a bit more critical and selective when it comes to the various forms of media I read, watch or listen to. My own internal radar when it comes to those medium has a better construction to it than many of the people I know. I may feel that way. However, the reality of it reveals that “sadly it is far from the truth”. Last night, I wanted to write for a bit and get back to finishing a book from To Be Read Pile. I know better but last night I did not do better. ME.TV just came on air in this area. 7:30 PM, M.A.S.H. rerun was on and I love that show. It was one of the first shows ever that did a good job mixing and balancing comedy against drama. This episode “Mulcahy’s War” from Season 5 features the scene where Father Mulcahy has to perform an emergency tracheotomy on a wounded soldier his bringing back from the front line.

Instead of turning the TV when the show was over I made the mistake of channel surfing. It was a moment of weakness. It was a moment of weakness that is probably the side of effect of my current state of physical and mental exhaustion. (And that is on me to work through and out.) It is also the by-product of “The Examined Life”. In my case, it comes with no referee and a shot clock. At this moment, I needed to engage and disengage at the same time. I then changed the channel and got stuck on a show. It is hard to admit to the fact that I cannot avert my eyes when it is on. It is the TV game show Wipeout.


It is the game show equivalent of a NASCAR race. I am just waiting to see how the contestants “crash” into water. It is amazing how their bodies can be contorted in their “Wipeout” and they don’t end up in traction because of it. And then afterwards listening to the hosts make wiseass snarky comments about them. This show is like Jackass for jackasses.

When that show was over I had to surrender to fact I was getting nothing done of significant for the night. I surfed into that cooking competition show. And I still wonder why I stayed with it. Why watch a show where people tell me how food tastes? These shows are kind of worthless when it comes to their final product. At least until the Star Trek Food Replicator and Smell-O-Vision are available via TV or the Internet so you can experience what has been cooked.

It was not a total waste of time. I was able to make an observation in regards to so called “reality competition” shows. They are more “staged” than most fictional shows. Watch for this the next time you watch one of them. The more camera angles and edits there are just how much it is staged. Every camera angle has the same perfect lighting. And all these angles should capture the other camera operators shooting the exact same action. The show may say there was 2 hour time limit (for a 60 minute show) for the competition. However, with all the camera angles used I am going to guess it probably took 6-10 hours to actually film it. Remember when watching this genre of shows that what you do not see is probably more important that what you do see. There is probably a “blooper reel” for this show. If this is true then there is a good chance it was all staged.

My final solution is that I may have to lose my TV Remote Controller for a bit.

And if I throw out my couch then I could lose it forever.

 “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”.)

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts lately. I really like listening in on a good conversation. The problem is I cannot listen to podcasts and have the ability to write my material at the same time. So I needed to get back to listening to more music. I can write while listening to music even if it has nothing to do with what I am in the midst of writing.

I found the soundtrack to the TV series The Wire. A good soundtrack can add another layer to show’s storyline. A good soundtrack should contain music from artists for the most part you never heard of. It should also not be limited to one genre of music. This is especially true for a weekly television series. It is just another way to be drawn into a story. So this is the album I have been listening to heavily this week.

I also find it helps to get ideas flowing again when I watch shows that grab my attention.

I also know my television watching habits are not the normal. I do not have cable so I have to catch shows when they are released on DVD. Or I am able to see them streaming on the Internet. If I am into a show I prefer to watch 3-4 episodes in row. I also tend to gravitate to shows that are not the typical network affair. I want to be engrossed into a show’s storyline. I realize most people want to watch television where they can just “veg out” in front of a screen. The last thing, they want to do after a long day is engaging their minds. Ironically, these are the same people who complain that there is nothing but “shit” on TV. The networks will continue with success peddling out the “shit” when they have a passive audience.

Here is the first scene ever for the show and its theme song.

That scene set the tone for the series as a whole.
The theme song is Down in the Hole written by Tom Waits. Here it is performed by the Blind Boys of Alabama. I think the use of a Tom Waits song here is appropriate. His music usually tells the tale of people on the fringes of society. CLICK HERE for a concert performed by Tom Waits himself.

If you take the novels The Tale of Two Cities and Crime and Punishment then set them in modern day America you would probably get the show The Wire. This story is set in the city of Baltimore. It follows the ongoing saga of drug dealers and the cops trying to stop them. The show lasted for five seasons. Over the course of the series, the show points out how crime, law enforcement, politics, education, real estate, welfare, and the media are all intertwined. The story of all these aspects of society is more about a game of “cat and mouse”. The other challenge to show is that things are not “wrapped with a pretty bow” at the end of each episode. The show storyline also operates with that infamous “gray area”. It tells its own story and what you take out of it is on you. This show is counter to ones like Law and
Order. That is a show that clearly establishes the line between the good guys and the bad guys. At the end of the hour, everything is wrapped up and the good guys win and the bad guys lose. This is how things should be in the world. The Wire is almost filmed as a pseudo-documentary for it shows you how things are. It also gives no firm answers while at the same time asking a lot of questions. The characters in this show are also well thought out. Too many TV shows have characters that are generic and fit to play a certain stereotype. I would tell you more about them but I would hate to spoil it for anyone who has not seen this show yet.

This show also deserves its title The Wire because it does have a current of electricity within its storyline. And I have watched it through a couple of times and I am still discovering different aspects within it. In the end, what you take from this show is on you.

Take a chance and find out why characters like McNulty, Omar, Prop Joe, Bunk, Lester and Stringer (to name a few) are intriguing.

This show was created by David Simon who also wrote the books Homicide: A Year of Killing on the Streets and The Corner. These books were real life tales of people in Baltimore that will make you reconsider your outlook on what is plaguing society. Each of the books was adapted for television. Plus after reading these books you can see what the basis became for The Wire

Right now we are in “Election Rhetoric Extreme Mode” in this country. It also comes with an over reliance on polling data. It is the time of the year where pretty much everyone argues their points of view. And only their experiences are the only thing valid to the argument. In other words, it comes down to “I am right! You’re Wrong! And that is Final! If you disagree with me then You are a Kool-Aid drinking brain washed idiot!” I am going to speak for myself here. As I stated in a previous post, my personal views are and always will be a work in progress. As of now, my personal view would be called slightly right of center. But please do not lump me in with the lunatics who are somehow on this side of the line. Listen we all have relatives we would rather not acknowledge that they do indeed exist. However, I have to put up with being called “an illiterate” for having the position that I do. Anyone who has read my blog or even seen the stacks of books I have can verify that the accusation is totally unfounded. There is nothing that has been placed into my thought by mere acceptance. I have not been in anyways a “brain washed Manchurian Candidate”. I could see where my mind could use a cup of Tide and a few rounds through the spin cycle to get the built up shit out of it. For a lack of better term I may be what was called a few years ago a South Park Conservative.

I am always thinking in some way about the “human condition”. It will always be confusing to completely comprehend as a whole. It is very hard to conceive how something so strong and at the same time so fragile can coexist within the same being. And that coexistence changes vastly from person to person.

I listen to music and read books to attempt to gain a perspective that is not always completely my own. I know I cannot directly experience everything about this world. However, I must navigate the things I do not grasp as a part of life. And that list is long. I have found there is a great divide between knowledge and expertise. Here is a warning. Anyone (regardless of their field) who claims to have all the answers is full of shit. Example: politicians. Everyone calls politicians “stupid and out of touch”. And yet at the same time the vast majority of people want them to pass legislation to regulate every aspect of their lives. Ironic? It makes me wonder if “We the people” is slowly turning into “Hey! You!”

 Here are the sources that started me thinking about the ideas throughout this post.

I have been listening more frequently lately to progressive metal albums from my collection. The one that has been listen to multiple times is American Soldier by Queensryche. I am sure that most of the people who have served in the military would be skeptical (even outraged) that their experiences were filtered by a heavy metal band. The album does include audio clips from real soldiers. I am just trying to find a way to understand a reality that I cannot completely understand. I see the events on the news daily. However, a 30-40 second news brief can hardly be called informative. And that is the filter most of the people use.

I also read the book They Fought for Each Other by Kelly Kennedy. This is another case of trying to gain perspective. Reading books like this point out the dilemma you have to face. The truth you know for yourself is based on your own experiences. It is compounded by the reality that the world does not revolve around you. Yet at the same time your world is being shaped by the experiences of people you will never meet either. I have friends who have served in the military. I know someone who served on the front lines during the Korean War as a spotter for artillery fire. He was about a mile away from the Chinese forces and he was only issued a radio. No gun. His orders were to spot not shoot. He had to go on a scavenger hunt for a gun to defend himself when the Chinese came crashing through the lines. I don’t know how he could tell me this story and at the same time make light of it. I also have known some men who served in Vietnam. They too had their tales and what they told me to this days make me wonder how they survived at all. I can tell when a person has really seen “hell”. They get that “thousand yard stare” and take a deep pause before they say a single word. I can only imagine. I have only been in a life and death moment once in my life. I know what happens when someone falls over 100 feet from a cliff. He was hurt real bad but did eventually survive. However, at that moment when this life and that of the next one were coming together I was sure which one would prevail in the moment. It does not matter how you came to that tense moment. In the end, a life and death moment will always with your brain one way or another. I just don’t know how it would be under fire. And I really don’t want to glorify the moment to find out.
I keep coming back to my copy of Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. He found it based on his experiences as a Jew in a World War II concentration camp. There is term he uses called “The Tragic Case for Optimism”. He states,”…what should understood by a ‘tragic optimism’. In brief it means that one is, and remains optimistic in spite of the ‘tragic triad’ as it is called in logotherapy, a triad which consists of those aspects of human existence which can be circumscribed by (1) pain; (2) guilt; and (3) death…How is it possible to say yes to life in spite of all of that?” To sum it up, “A man can get used to anything, but do not ask us how.”

We live in mass media society. We think that a news report is the equivalent of history lesson. The problem one is impulsive and the other comes through retrospection. History is presented as a series of linear events. Where “A” lead to “B” and therefore became “C”. If you really study in depth any historic event you come to realize that it was the result of 100′s of tangents that came together in that specific moment. History is more like getting caught in a spider’s web. History is also presented as being a series of high and low points. It is all the moments in between them where the human factor really takes place. Call it the “Gray area”. It is the area that leads to the most arguments because people feel their own personal history in that moment is somehow being marginalized. Another byproduct of our mass media outlets is that any event can be dissected and commented on by anyone. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said,“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”

The next part here is going to get tricky. It is a very sensitive subject.

It is really amazing to see how the human mind works from time to time. The mind seeks answers. However, the answers seem to be opposite to the nature of the problem. Complex problems can be summarized with a simple explanation. However, a simple answer is hoax covering up a complex series of questions. The prime example of this is the events of and related to 9/11. The planes could not possible bring down the Twin Towers on their own. It was not that simple. Or. The complex history of the conflicts in the Middle East would end if people “just act nice”.

9/11 is an emotional issue. It always will be. There has not been one week that has gone by where someone is not reminding us that we live in a “post 9/11″ world. The wounds of that day are still being picked at. It is still a very open wound. The day for me was and still is to me “surreal”. When future generations complain they do not have that one uniting event in their lives, I will point out the reality is that is not worth the cost. The other problem of the aftermath is that all sides on the issue of 9/11 have so spun the day to match their agenda. And all sides are using to condemn the other side about it.

What is the point of all of this? To destroy a man who seeks the truth,
or to destroy the truth so no man can seek it? Either way, you lose.

     -Agent Monica Reyes-

From The X-Files. Episode “The Truth” (The Series Finale)

I have re-watching episodes of The X-Files lately. I enjoyed all the alien-government conspiracies. However, the weekly reports of the vast array of post 9/11 conspiracies can be a little too much to take. The problem is the aftermath events of two wars are still going on. And the end has not arrived. We want a book mark ending so we can put into the history book and move on. We have to remember that those who participated in a historical event did not know in that moment how it was going to end. Winners and survivors are the ones who get to write down the history. It is the fundamental flaw of the concept of “The War on Terror”. There will always be lunatics running around making life uneasy anywhere in the world. But at the same time, someone is going to have to deal with them. All societies mandate this to happen too. I know we can’t find one “nutcase” wearing a turbine, camouflage, dragging a kidney dialysis machine across a desert, mountain range. (I think his Groucho Marx’s glasses are what are really keeping him hidden. And yet I can go to any public bus or train stop and easily point out a “nutcase”.) The human mind needs a narrative structure in order to attempt to make sense of the world. Even for a brief moment. When the information is lacking and when the source is viewed with suspicion this is where the conspiracy theories start to take form. I also think it is an indirect by-product of our popular culture. As the show 24 and Dan Brown’s book The DaVinci Code became popular the ideas of secret societies and conspiracies did too. Maybe there is and maybe there isn’t. My problem is that these secret societies and conspiracy are filled with people. And there is one thing people cannot do. Keep a secret. We can’t wait to tell people almost anything. We have hidden cameras taking video of people picking their nose when they think no one is watching. I find it hard to believe no has caught the nose picker at the secret society meeting yet. They get a lot of credit for being able to execute their plans for world domination without any flaw to them. Remember. They hire people too. I find it hard to believe they can fill their job positions and there is not one annoying co-worker to be found within them. All of those co-workers always remember to make another pot of coffee and fill the copier with paper. Imagine that. Because I can’t. Another point, you cannot be a truly secret society if everyone knows your name and emblem. But without them how could they get any credit? Back to the idea of “world domination”. Hasn’t the villains in the James Bond films taught us by now how that concept is really silly in the end. Their plans were always thwarted by a man dressed in a tuxedo. So I guess formal wear is the key against the New World Order. And the martinis are helpful too.

I also like to read the works of Joseph Campbell in regards to man’s ability to create myths. We still do to this very day. Man sometimes creates a fantasy world as a chance to deal with the problems of the modern life in which he finds himself. Science fiction is most often the vehicle used in our modern times to do this.

Battlestar Galactica is a great example of this. I have read the show being praised as a slam against President Bush’s post 9/11 actions. I believe the show to be much more than just that and on many other levels too. In a way, it is updated retelling of the story of Exodus from the Bible. It is about the journey that men will endure to make it to a new land. I was going to write about all of the things I have found in the show. I will leave them for you to discover for yourself. There was more to this show than just spaceships on a journey.

It comes down to the case that everyone can argue history. The challenge is going forward. You do not have a choice about that.

This post came from a sudden urge. I will go into specifics in a bit.

A sudden urge results when a situation develops around you. However, at the same moment you are not prepared with the right tools to handle the urge. You know. A good looking woman. The stun gun holster is empty. Catch a chipmunk. Duct tape is empty. Have to blow Chunks. The dog, Chunks is back at home. The Swedish Bikini Team lands in your campsite. And you are in the midst of re-enacting a scene from Deliverance. If they would have radioed ahead you may have just waited. You get the point. It is frustrating to find yourself in a situation you can’t resolve they want you would’ve wanted. You can only imagine how the moment would’ve played out had you been in deed prepared. In your mind, you would have executed your game plan with perfection.

An urge can have a positive (Aaaah!) or a negative (Ugggh!) result. It all depends on what you want to achieve. It also depends on whether you are overcoming a challenge or to have an excuse to explain. This experiment can be observed in a bar on any given night.

Now on the specifics of what influenced this post. The other day, on lunch break I had to run a few errands. I needed to also get lunch during this time. So I stopped at Sub shop chain that is found about every half mile. It was about 12:30PM. As the woman behind the counter was making my sub. A loud mouth and soon to be revealed idiot walked in. And wanted to know why the breakfast menu option was no longer available. He could not accept the explanation and became ridiculously argumentative. I was on the clock per say and this idiot made it way too far in life not to know what fucking time it was. I had to make a quick stop at a drug store after work that day too. One item. In and out. At most a two minute mission. Little did I know? I was about to be proven overly optimistic with my game plan. The drug store’s name states “Right and Helpful”. So I grabbed the item needed. There was a man at the counter ahead of me. He had quite an amount of items he was purchasing. The cashier totaled and bagged the items. She gave him his total due. And he just stood there doing nothing. Then he told the cashier he was waiting for his wife who was still shopping and she had the money. I stood there and just gave him an “evil stare”. And yet he felt no shame what so ever. A few minutes later, the wife came to the counter. She had a fully loaded cart and a bunch of issues with that week’s sales flyer. I just stared at them. And still no sense of shame from them. The problem with trying to use Jedi Mind Tricks on idiots is you need to have a brain to be able to target on. People like them and the other guy should only go out in public if they are wearing helmets. Because people like them give me an urge. And one of these days, I may just be prepared by carrying a baseball bat. I would then be able to play the Human version of the “Whack-a-Mole” game. For once I want to feel amused for having to be around people like this. Plus, “I’ve got mad hits like Rod Carew.”

However, our society for the most part cannot act on its sudden urges for the most part. Society for the most part would completely fall apart. Even worse than how it appears on the evening news. Can you imagine everyone taking turns on the Maury Povich Show waiting for the DNA test results?

They are going to be bringing back the cartoon, Beavis and Butthead. This may make some people think that society is going down hard for the count. I think we need stupid characters to point out the greater stupidity of it all. And hopefully, have a laugh or two from their observations.

It has to start somewhere.

Someone needs to bring back the fun. Someone needs to bring the “Weee” back into this WeeeTarded world.

I am beginning to think that the barrage of pharmaceutical ads for a variety of symptoms has had an impact on people’s attitude. In a way the ads have infected how people look at others. It comes down to this. It is way too easy to get a prescription. It is the illusion of the “quick fix”. All you have to do is swallow and the problem is solved. This mentality has also been subversive in how people view others. However, it takes way more of an effort to understand the script of another person’s existence.

I am also aware of how our society has come to accept “Reality TV” as a valid representation of any person who appears on one of those shows. However, these people are really being created through the filming and editing process of the show’s behind-the-scenes producers. In our mass media age, anything a person says or does can be altered by this process. I am a fan of the Keith and the Girl podcast and many of the guests on the show are comedians. There are quite a few of them who have been contestants on The Last Comic Standing. They all tell the story of how they did not have to stand in line to audition. Their agents did it for them and told them when to show up to do their routine. How they all knew most of the comedians involved already. They also told how they were filmed and how it was changed by the final edit of the show. How their jokes were altered by the edits. Taglines for the jokes were turned into the punch line. In the end, the comedians all had pretty much the same feeling about the show. It was crap. But it was a good way to get their names out there to more people. I am also pretty much skeptical of any reality show contest that has a phone number to vote for your favorite performer of that episode. These vote tallies are never revealed. There is no outside third party monitoring the voting process to help insure the true results. After the 2000 Presidential election, I have begun to feel that in this country we are no longer capable of holding a real legitimate election.

Comedian Doug Stanhope has just posted an article that fits into what I have just stated above. He also feels that his soul has been tainted because he was in the original preview pilot for The Last Comic Standing.

It is hard to be yourself in these modern times. I was thinking about this in another segment of my life. I do not get into much (if at all) in this blog. It is not out of shame or such. I know this blog and that segment would be a hard fit to bring together at this point. And if I did I would spend way too much time trying to explain it and defend it to people who should not get a say in the matter. There is a time and place for everything but not for everyone.

I work for a company that is probably in the Fortune 500 listings. I am guessing about that based on the fact that I cannot afford to buy a share of their stock. I am just going to leave the company nameless. I also want to stay off Human Resources and the Legal Department’s radar to be safe too. The company recently issued its policy for employee use of social network websites. The wanted employees to know their duty is to not to do harm to the company’s image. As I read through the policy I am not sure if I can even mentioned that I am employed at all. I feel like I am in some quasi Witness Protection program. If so I want to be hanging out with “Good Fellas”. Companies want some loyalty. (Loyalty has become a big issue over the last few days with Lebron James incident. I heard a sports analyst sum it up best when it comes to loyalty. He said. When companies stopped giving out pension plans, loyalty was no longer a real option.) I know companies need to have some control on how they operate. But wanting everyone to have “blind faith” can be very dangerous. “Blind faith” is part of what lead to economic meltdown. I think employees should get the same protection as people on the commentary tracks of DVD’s get. “The opinions stated on this DVD are not necessarily those of the Parent Corporation, producers, etc.” And besides if my smart ass comments and insights is the “lynch pin” that brings down the company, their business plan was big time flawed to begin with. People want to be themselves and bring what is within them to work. But it is tough with all of the over-sensitive workplace conduct policies they have to navigate. The current tough economic conditions have brought a lot of fear in to this equation too. But if we could be ourselves at work the self help industry along with daytime television would collapse. If companies are so worried about their image then they should go after and shut down the real domain where their image takes a hit from their workers. The bars. The original of social networking sites. You know why they call it “Happy Hour”? Because you are so happy that after an 8-10 hour work day you finally get to speak your mind. And there is nothing like a cold beer to fuel it. Another note to management. Those Dilbert comics on the bulletin board were not placed there for the irony.

In times like these, I try to seek media that has some sense of honesty about its content. I am a fan of the opening monologues for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He does use cue cards and shoots from the hip per say. His monologue is not just joke after joke in order to prime his studio audience.

I am also looking forward to reading comedian Mike Birbiglia upcoming book “Sleep Walk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories”. I like how he takes his life’s awkward moments and finds the humor in them.

I also try to catch certain shows on TV (when I have cable available) or through the Internet. I am becoming more and more a fan of Mike Rowe from the Discovery Channel’s show Dirty Jobs. You can tell he is actually doing the work himself. There are no tricks of filming or editing to fool you into believing he is doing it. Just watch his reaction during a job. It is genuine. I also still admire his TED speech on how work is viewed and how it really should be seen. The other show on the channel is The Deadliest Catch. The show is the chronicle of Alaskan crab fisherman. A job 99% of the world would never be able to handle. The men on the fishing boats are rough and tough under harsh weather conditions. They are also complex people with all of their strengths and flaws for the world to see. I do not feel they are edited and made into two dimensional stock TV characters. If these guys felt they were being shown in a way that wasn’t them that they would walk away from the show. And the producers of the show would have also been thrown off their boats into the Bering Sea. The face of the show was embodied by Capt Phil Harris. He said “A fairytale starts out ‘Once upon a time.’ A fisherman’s story starts out, ‘This ain’t no bullshit.’” Phil Harris became the center of the show this season with his own death. It was controversial but Phil believed his story needed to have an ending. And if this was the way it was. So be it. He has shown all the dimensions of himself for 5-6 seasons of the show and why stop before the final end. You know how you can determine when you have met a truly authentic person? When you get to know a person you start to realize you have never read a character like this in a book or seen on a movie or TV screen. And you want to share that persons story.

Mike Rowe’s tribute to him sums up why he made his mark on this world.

A few years ago, the producers of The Deadliest Catch made a reality show competition called “America’s Toughest Job”. It was about a group of contestants would do tough and dirty jobs for prize money. The show was also a mistake. The stakes in the show were nothing compared to the people who really have to do it for a living. And they do without having really safety nets and insurance waivers. You cannot take individuals with personality spots to fill and try to make them into real people of character. It just does not work that way. Our modern media age wants to trick you into believing that. The personalities on the shows like The Real World will for the most part come and go without leaving any lasting impression. People of character, like Phil Harris stay with you.

 Note to Phil. If you come across a person named Norm where you are. Trust me. He has a voice that can’t be missed. Have a beer with him. He was a lot like you.

MUSIC: Audioslave

My friend Mike sent me a link to a site called Mindmeister. It is a site for mapping out one’s mind. I really have not had the time to really delve into the site. He said it would be a good way to organize my thoughts in regards to my writing. It may be true and I might do it. However, I am a little suspicious of his motivation. I think he is just trying to “build the case against me”. And he just does not have the time to do the investigative work himself. If the state is going to prosecute you they have to do some “legwork” first. They do not have the ability to just have you fill out a survey so they can prosecute for your answers. It does not work like that in the court system. The tax system is another story.

Let me attempt a try at giving you an explanation of how my mind may work. I am by nature a curious person. This led me to a lot of trouble in my early education years. It also was scarred by being in a Catholic school. We were always being told that we had to have something to read or do quietly whenever we finished our class work. I was always in trouble for what I brought to school to read. Comic books, MAD magazine, etc. I was never told “Why” they were bad. If you are not going to explain “why” then you will never be able to satisfy a curious person. In fact, over time your lack of explanation feeds a rebellious tendency in that person. The answer, “Because I said so!” is the response of a person on seriously out of control personal power trip. For those of you who have been known to play a drinking game from time to time. It is the basis of the drinking game called Asshole. It does not require skill. It is more about having an arbitrary position.

I have a visual mind and usually see things through images. This is why I failed at math throughout my school years. I do not see “numbers” as an example. I can look at pictures and assemble things from them. This is one of my mom’s favorite stories about me when I was about two years old. I was a quiet kid who did not speak a lot. I could build things though. I used the color patterns on the rug in the dining room to build “roads” for my Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. My grandparents bought me a big can of Tinker Toys. This was a toy you build things with using various sticks and connectors. I now feel old when I realize my toys as a child required as a goal that I put them together myself. This does not seem to be as true now days. Tinker Toys came with a small booklet of things you can build with the various sticks and connectors. So for the next week or so I sat down and built them all. I just looked at the picture and then the pieces. And from there I put them together. The instructions started with simple things and progressed to more complicated ones which required all of the pieces. I eventually worked up to those. I built the most complicated one and showed it off to my mom. She looked at it and thought that I had not put it together right. I looked her and without saying a word showed her the picture in the instruction book. She studied it and realized that I indeed had assembled correctly.

I will now lay blame to biggest influence on my childhood imagination. The first time I ever saw a movie that felt that it looked like the imagination in my head was Star Wars. I remember just sitting glued into my seat at the movie theater. It caught my imagination hard. A few months later, when the toys were coming out I was completely into it. I would go to school and just draw out Star Wars pictures and the after school go home and act out the scenes with my toy action figures. I would come up with new stories every time I would get a new figure. In fact, I bought certain ones based on the ideas of which stories I wanted to tell next. The problem was in second grade I would rather draw the stories then do my real school work. I would be constantly yelled and told such use of my time was a waste. I also discovered comic books. I like that I could see how images and words worked together. And this is why films fascinate me. But I could never successfully explain to my teacher why it was not a waste of time. That is called back talking. I had quite a few walks to the principal’s office. My footprints will be forever etched into that floor. However, I realize that the teacher had no imagination (most of them do not anyways). Those who can’t…teach. I still read Star Wars novels and watch the movies because I am still discovering things about them. It is a very dense story. There are many facets to it. I wish when I was kid there was Wookieepedia. I read the book about a decade ago called Star Wars: The Magic of Myth by Mary Henderson. It is about the elements that make up the story of Star Wars itself. It kept referencing the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. He explores how man has been writing and rewriting the same story since man was able to write. This is how it works for me. I find something that fuels my imagination and then I want more information about it.

I am trying to become a better writer. And that will be the goal until the end. Stephen King in his book On Writing said, “If you do not have the time to read. Then you do not have the time to write. Because you do not have the tools to write.” Here is another example of the mind in action. I like a good story. I like the story even better if there is strong character development. This is why I enjoy the Spenser series from author Robert Parker. It was the influence behind the Spenser: For Hire TV series. He has strong characters and he does not get caught up in using many words to tell the story. Spenser is man who no matter what will solve the case even when he is told to stay away. he has principals and a belief in them. Author Stephen Hunter created the character of Bobby Lee Swagger that he used in several of his novels. Swagger is a former army sniper who gets caught in situation that fall into the category of “right man at the wrong time”. I just read his latest appearance in the novel The 47^th Samurai. I will not go into the plot details. I just want to point out how I find things that make me curious and I want find out more. In the book, Swagger studies Japanese samurai culture by watching that genre of films. So now a few of those titles  such as Twilight Samurai, The 47 Ronin and When the Last Sword is Drawn will go into the Netflix queue. There was also the mention of a book entitled The Nobility of Failure. And I am trying to locate a copy to read. I think it could provide some enlightenment for some other thoughts in my head.

This is how it works in a nutshell. I find a good story. I then try to find some details about elements that went into story. And from there I want to see how it all contributed to final “assembly” of the story. On top of it all, westerns, kung fu and samurai films are the ones that seem to be grabbing my attention at the moment. So you have been warned.

I know most people will not read a book or watch a movie that I mentioned. It would take some effort on their part. We are in a world where knowledge seems to be condensed into quick sound bites. And this is not what I am about. I know most people want to be told what to read or see. They do not want to empower themselves with a sense of discovery. They base their quest for knowledge more on what they know rather than what they do not know. I know I will never get to control the “remote” for the masses nor do I want to. I know I do get choose the station, book, movie or the event. So be it. I like how I am trying to discover things. Speaking of which. Last year, I went on a few ghost hunts. You can believe it or not. I did see and hear things. However, as is very common in such situations the evidence did not show up on film. But my X-Files Quest will continue. Does anyone out there know of a good area in the Northeast United States for a UFO hunt?

In the end, I am just attempting to layout a map. But to be truthful, I am not sure how the map works all the time. If I did then I am afraid it will ruin all of the magic.