after two yEars of time and time

It's Monday. It's a new year... two have passed, in fact, since last I posted here. Lot's of things happened between last post and this, and I won't try to update anything. This is a new post. Period. I'm just glad to be back.


Keeping in theme with my last post of two years ago, I have managed to get through the weeds of figuring out how to get my characters off the mountain, and into the new universe, and the continent and magic of Tamarast. I've been doing a lot of thinking on this and, while watching a " twilight" marathon on FX yesterday afternoon it came to me quite suddenly. The solution even allows me to avoid the whole "returning to the Consolidation" and all the plot point nightmares that would undoubtedly have gendered.


The second book in my proposed trilogy would have been the "Return to the Consolidation," and would have been boring beyond belief... to me--if I'd have had to write that block of nonsense the story I have in my head would never get finished. This new solution saves me the effort of writing something that would have ultimately been a nightmare, and save readers the time and disappointment that RttC would have been. By avoiding RttC, I'll get to keep my readers.


I've managed, as well, to figure out why my group of Muslims were so intent on destroying the project, stranding my pilgrims and them 11,000 years in the past. As it turned out the solution was quite simple. Now, I don't have to spend an entire novel in the Appalachians with Tel and Mina and the rest of my mountain community. Elias and his crew can do their damage and Tel can save his father, and the solution can be part of the whole beginning of what I've been calling "Rabbit On The Mountain". Discussed, at least, as part of setting the stage for what follows. "Rabbit on the Mountain" doesn't have to be a full length novel and "Return to the Consolidation" doesn't have to written at all.


Hooray, for me. Now I can focus solely on the getting to Tamarast and the wars that follow.

fast, faster, fastest

You know what? I like The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. I like it a lot. I watched it Saturday afternoon for the 4th or 5th time. I know it catches a lot go flack, but the haters are just ticked that it's not a Vin Diesel flick. But I love Lucas Black. I don't think we get to see enough of this young man in movies or TV. I know, I know, Tokyo Drift is basically "Karate Kid" with ricers... albeit fast ones... but I love just love this movie.

In all fairness to the film, the second outing 2 Fast, 2 Furious isn't a great film at all. It's a very poor sophomore outing (on it's own*) with a weak plot, though it does advance the mythology somewhat (as did Tokyo Drift), but the way I see it, the first two films enjoyed some continuity in that Paul Walker stars in both. The third outing, Tokyo Drift messes with the continuity thing very differently, in that Vin Diesel shows up at the end, and one main character, Han, dies... which is strange, because Han is in Fast and Furious, the 4th film. The events of Fast and Furious take place before the third film, as one scene shows Han saying he's going to Tokyo where he's heard about an interesting racing scene happening. Strange continuity, but I love these films... especially Tokyo Drift. But Lucas Black is a good actor, and has far more depth than the likes of Shia LeBeouf!

*Strange Continuity - It's all explained here.





One of the most intriguing lines in Tokyo Drift, to me, is what the Yakuza uncle said to his nephew in reprimand... for an "overlooked detail"...

For want of a nail, the horseshoe was lost
For want of a horseshoe the steed was lost
For want of a steed the message was undelivered
For want of the undelivered message the war was lost

Speed-- too much of it --allows for greater slacking in one's attention to detail. No detail is trivial. Every step on any journey of any distance is important.




Scientists have proven wrong, it is feared, the foundation upon which modern physics is built.

Speed of light 'broken' at CERN, scientists claim

The science world was left in shock when workers at the world’s largest physics lab announced they had recorded subatomic particles travelling faster than the speed of light.

If the findings are proven to be accurate, they would overturn one of the pillars of the Standard Model of physics, which explains the way the universe and everything within it works.

Einstein’s theory of special relativity, proposed in 1905, states that nothing in the universe can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. But researchers at the CERN lab near Geneva claim they have recorded neutrinos, a type of tiny particle, travelling faster than the barrier of 186,282 miles (299,792 kilometers) per second.

The results have so astounded researchers that American and Japanese scientists have been asked to verify the results before they are confirmed as a discovery.

If it turns out to be true, don't expect too many people to be banging the drum for the "new world order" in the physical world. Change comes slowly to enlightened thinkers. Especially when said change threatens to alter the established order; careers, fortunes, prestige, and power could be lost. Truth get's blurred when fortunes, careers, and power structures are threatened.

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860) had this to say about Truth...

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."

This is seen even today in the fields of medicine and physical science. As it was in the days of Galileo, so it is today: western medicine, man-made global warming, evolution. Anyone who publicly doubts these canons is branded a heretic, or 'flat-earther,' and no better than a racist.

Regarding Medicine and Physical Science, there is too much money to be made off the fear of the eschewing the former to lift its metaphorical boot from the throats of its victims, and too much ideological capital already spent to allow the latter to ever admit its obvious flaws.

Here's a truth: The unregenerate heart will always seek to build its fortune on fear, be it of the personal or the preying upon variety, and fear will drive it to untold mongeries to build its fortunes higher than mere necessity dictates.

Avarice is king, necessity and truth be damned.

e's says, "it's monday!"

Let's start with a beaver. I like beavers. I like Mr. Beaver in the first Narnia movie. I like anything with innate ability to build a house... especially as it has to cut down the forest with its bleeding teeth to do so.

I also like Mel Gibson, despite the all-around angry guy he's become, or has finally allowed us to see. I've loved him as an actor ever since Galipoli, my first Mel Gibson film, a beautifully poignant and tragic historical epic.

I'd title this post as one in a long line of my "Pithy Reviews" but I haven't seen this film. I simply hope to. Judging strictly from the trailer alone it appears to be just what the doctor ordered for Mr. Gibson... both personally and professionally. I can only hope there is a lesson in the sets and dialogs of The Beaver that will give Mr. Gibson some personal clarity and, perhaps, a point in the right direction.

One review I've read claims this is not a drama... and is not meant to be comedic. I can only imagine how uncomfortable some might feel watching a man brought to this depth of depression and not be asked to laugh. The previews takes pains to make us want to laugh, so... how does that work? A drama that's not a comedy but asks us to laugh anyway. What is funny about a man who breaks down and struggles to find his way back? I hope I get to find out.

*    *    *

Pithy Review
(a few years late)

The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke. The most depressing movie I've ever seen. I want to say it was also beautiful, but now that I think about it... many of the camera shots were beautiful; the imagery was captivating, but there was nothing beautiful about the story. In short, The Wrestler is a personification of personal despair and flogging loneliness.

I'm not even sure I liked it; I felt enthralled by something I couldn't pull my eyes away from, like a train wreck you see coming but can't turn away from. There wasn't even a Rocky fanfare at the end... not at the beginning, the middle... no where. It opened without a shred of discernible hope, and it died that way. Even at the end with the hope of a Talia Shire moment in the person of Marisa Tomei... Nothing.

Disaster porn. You don't want to see the blood, the tears, or the bodies as you drive slowly by... but neither can you turn away. I've always liked Mickey Rourke, and his performance here was stellar, but a more depressing film he could not have made.

In the end I was, perhaps, more impressed that I sat all the way through it without changing the channel. Which means I'll likely watch it again sometime in the future.

*    *    *

Excerpts from:

The Trouble with Happiness
Alexander Green, Whiskey & Gunpowder, May 16, 2011

"Every life is lived between the poles of joy and sadness. Laughter and love are part of it. But so are pain and suffering. To deny the tragic aspects of the world is to suppress a large part of what it means to be human...

Great artists often try to awaken us — or stir our conscience — by reminding us of the more doleful aspects of life. In response to the 16th Street Church bombing in 1963, an attack by the Ku Klux Klan in Birmingham that killed four girls, saxophonist John Coltrane wrote "Alabama," an instrumental work that expresses anguish and sorrow more eloquently than words.

In 1890, Vincent Van Gogh, overcome by feelings of worthlessness, walked out into the southern French countryside and shot himself in the gut with a pistol. Just 37, he died from the wound two days later. Yet in the previous two years — and despite his bleakness — he completed more than 200 paintings, many of them masterpieces.

Handel, after years spent at the top of the musical world, fell into terrible poverty, ill health, and deep depression. Yet from the depths of profound despair, he completed his greatest work, "Messiah."

Beethoven raged against advancing deafness and his own finitude, yet created immortal works during this period, including his Fifth Symphony; his only opera, Fidelio; his late string quartets; and the Ninth Symphony, with its triumphant "Ode to Joy."

We all want to be happy. But life is also about education, work, courage, honor, empathy, and resilience in the face of hardship. Real contentment comes from a feeling that your life is worthwhile, that it is dissolved into something meaningful and great. That leads to gratitude.

And gratitude, it turns out, is an indispensable part of happiness.

It's worth a read, if you have time.

robots... all is not full of love

Perhaps the strangest music video I've ever seen. I've been a fan (of sorts) of Bjork for years but I never thought to search out a video by her until today. My reason for the search? I'm trying to compile a list of songs that contain the word 'robot' or 'android' within the lyrics.

My list so far:

1001001 - Rush
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - Flaming Lips
Mr. Roboto - Styx

Strangely, Bjork fails to make the list, despite her best visual efforts.

Stranger still, Bjork is pretty hot as a robot... not so much in real life.

---

Afterthought ...[11:40am]
Bjork tends to mumble and draw out whole words over long vocal runs so...

All Is Full Of Love

You'll be given love        You'll be taken care of
You'll be given love        You have to trust it

Maybe not from the sources        You have poured yours
Maybe not from the directions        You are staring at

Twist your head around        It's all around you
All is full of love        All around you

All is full of love        You just ain't receiving
All is full of love        Your phone is off the hook
All is full of love        Your doors are all shut
All is full of love        All is full of love!

All is full of love... a nice enough sentiment for those who are in love, surrounded by love, enveloped by love... but what does it mean to the homeless? the hungry? the lonely? the dying? God is love, the spiritual embodiment of love; for some, this is enough. But look at the world. I mean REALLY look at it. All is NOT full of love. It's filled with the longing for love. For those who don't wish to look deeper, this, I assume, is enough.

The world is in love with provocateurism-- lesbian robots fondling and kissing each other. There is something very wrong with the world.

...

I actually love this song. I just didn't know there was a video associated with it. I almost wish I hadn't found it. I say 'almost' because despite my distaste for the imagery, I am human and drawn to it, nonetheless, by both fascination and lust.

signpost ahead...

..::(1)::..

"You know you're in trouble when Rod Serling is in the room talking about you."

[oh, you!]

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

--Albert Einstein

Albert speaks volumes in only eleven words. Who said brevity is the soul of wit? Shakespeare? What about the sole of wisdom? If you can manage to keep your sources and inspirations hidden you maintain the veil of mystery you deliberately-- whether you realized it or not --affixed to the product of your hands. Or, as Montgomery Scott once said, "Oh, laddie, you've got a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker."

..::[e]::..

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

-—Mohandas Gandhi

Perfection of the Christian condition as expressed by a Hindu. He nailed (no pun intended) the following quote just as beautifully... "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

..::[e]::..

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything-— all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure --these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

--Steve Jobs

He may be dead tomorrow, so watch out! More iPads, and iWhatzits on the horizon! All kidding aside he speaks the truth. In the face of death, what does it matter if a big part of you thinks you're out of her league. Go talk to her anyway; be yourself, be honest. Only God knows the true value of your efforts, your honesty, and your self...

..::[e]::..

"The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him."

--Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Wow! Did you read that!? Can you even guess at the magnitude of the truth in this? Democrats operate this way. They impose their will on America, but never allow America to impose its will upon them. My, how times have changed! Once, it was 'We the People' who imposed its will upon Washington, but now up is down and right is left. The saddest part in all this is the so-called 'Free Press'. Once champions of Freedom they've sold their birthright for a mess of pottage. Selling us all out in the process.

..::[e]::..

air and light and time and space

"–you know, I’ve either had a family, a job,
something has always been in the
way
but now
I’ve sold my house, I’ve found this
place, a large studio, you should see the space and
the light.
for the first time in my life I’m going to have
a place and the time to
create."

no baby, if you’re going to create
you’re going to create whether you work
16 hours a day in a coal mine
or
you’re going to create in a small room with 3 children
while you’re on
welfare,
you’re going to create with part of your mind and your body blown
away,
you’re going to create blind
crippled
demented,
you’re going to create with a cat crawling up your
back while
the whole city trembles in earthquake, bombardment,
flood and fire.

baby, air and light and time and space
have nothing to do with it
and don’t create anything
except maybe a longer life to find
new excuses
for.

--Charles Bukowski

'to find new excuses for.....' what?

I like this guy. What I see in this? The only thing holding you back is yourself; your fears and insecurities that limit and stifle your creativity... Only YOU can prevent forest fires... And only you can stoke the fire in your heart. Inspiration may be the flint to your steel, but you must nurse and coax the spark of their marriage to life.

Amen, and amen.

[oh, you!]

"Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours."

--Swedish Proverb

..::[e]::..

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life

--Pablo Picasso

..::[e]::..

For BJ, my recent ex-employer:

"Treat others as you'd like to be treated.
Life's only a bitch if you are."

But she won't listen; she feels justified in everything she does. And besides which, Karma is beyond her grasp.

..::[e]::..

And finally, before leaving...

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists... it is real... it is possible... it's yours."

--Ayn Rand