Friday, January 25, 2013

Vision

"Visualisation is the process of actively creating an image in your mind of the person you wish to be and holding that image over a period of time. By shaping this mental image repeatedly in a relaxed and receptive state you may change the derogatory nature of the commentary of your inner voice and become, at the very least, closer to the person you wish to be.
Be specific. Include as many details in your visualisation as you can. Don't create obstacles by visualising the steps needed to reach your goal. Imagine being that person and how it would feel, now.
Repeat your visualisation as often as possible every day.
Become your visualisation."

I thought this was great advice, but how about visualizing spell check.

Monday, November 12, 2012

REPUBLICAN SMASH!

I was wrong. Very wrong. Oh not about the election. Everyone who followed the actual real polls that used real math pretty much knew President Obama was going to get over 300 electoral votes and win easily. I am talking about Republican's heads exploding. I guess it isn't physically possible, but I witnessed  several very very angry white men seething in public. I wondered if when Obama won their heads would explode like at the beginning of Scanners or Belloq's head at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It just seemed to me that all that pent up massive ignorance and anger would surely need to be released in some way.
While walking into Walmart one night I overheard an older white male say to his wife, "Take a look at all of these niggers." Sometimes I have this bad habit of walking with my head down. So when I heard this I instantly looked up and saw several African Americans walking into the store. Who knows if they really were of African descent. They appeared to be but who really knows. My genetic code might be more in common with someone from Africa than that racist soon to be Walmart shopper. The first thing that zipped into my brain after hearing the above statement wasn't damn that is some old school racist bullshit! It was actually, I bet he's voting for Mitt Romney! I know not all Republicans share the viewpoint of the cast of The Mississippi Burning but you have to admit Hollywood could audition millions of  them for the Michael Douglas character if they remade Falling Down.
A couple of days later I was in Barnes and Noble about to leave when I heard (as well as half the store) a man yelling "OBAMA IS A MUSLIM SOCIALIST! HE IS ANTI AMERICAN!"  Naturally I walked towards the angry voice and my eyes revealed a white male pointing his finger at a black man and women. Someone from the book store staff calmed the man down and told him he didn't have to leave but suggested that he move to another part of the store. As he walked away he looked back and yelled, "AND HE IS GOING TO LOSE!" Instead of going to the christian living section or calm himself down by reading the latest Ann Coulter book, he walked out of the store. My first thought was I wonder if he owns firearms. Oh well, I better get the fuck out of here! I was leaving anyway!
These are just two examples. The first one was said by someone that if you weren't standing within 3 yards you wouldn't have heard it. The other was by a man who didn't need a microphone. But I thought they both revealed to me this incredible anger by a group of people who are are shrinking. I don't know if after last Tuesday night their heads spontaneously combusted but at the very least their bubble burst. Fox New tried to contain it and when the air was letting out tried to deny it. NOTHING TO SEE HERE! But in the end reality made all of their heads metaphorically explode. Karl Rove's head didn't explode but he did melt like the Nazi Gestapo agent Toht at the end of Raiders. 

People should be angry. But if they live in the imaginary fantasy world of Fox News, the anger is going to be in the wrong direction. The right wing media has an incredible megaphone.  Last Tuesday night they thought they were going to finally open up the ark and take control of its power. Thankfully more than 62 million kept their eyes shut.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Political acumen

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/chris-mooney-republican-brain-science-denial

Perhaps it all comes down to the way our brains are wired.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Dance Party, USA

A teenager (Gus) confesses to a young woman (Christie) at a Fourth of July party that he raped a girl while she was unconscious. This must be one of those films Martin Scorsese was referencing when he said if you want to make a film about the soul it could only be made for two dollars. The budget of this film doesn't seem to be much higher. But what it's missing in budget it makes up for with excellent naturalistic dialogue and several affecting scenes. If you like any of the mumblecore films (Funny Ha Ha, Puffy Chair) you'll probably dig this one as well.

Friday, June 17, 2011

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

John McCabe is a gambler who opens a brothel in a near non existent town with Ms. Miller, a "madam". Like just about all Robert Altman films, tone takes prescience over plot. We get to see Warren Beatty act like Warren Beaty with a beard, actively gambling, smoking stogies and expanding his business enterprises. When he refuses to sell his business to a mining company, three bounty hunters are sent to kill him. The soundtrack by Leonard Cohen adds to beautiful shots of the countryside. There is not one damn thing wrong with this film. It seems to have oozed right out of Altman's head. The ending is the same as the Shining. Well, sort of.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Inception Deception Frustration

I watched the first 30 minutes of Inception and do not even want to finish the damned thing. It's about these dudes who spy on people by entering their dream states and extract information from them. It sounds like a giant headache to me and even worse to watch on screen. The film gets even worse when that annoying actress Elenn Page enters the film and is hired to be an architect for the dream landscapes. It's already way too high concept for me. Hopefully I'll be able to gather the strength to continue watching the film. Can any of these so called brilliant commercial filmmakers make a movie that doesn't involve the concept of a trying to complete a puzzle? What would this film be if it were merely about a guy who wants to clear himself in the murder of his wife? Of course she shows up in his dreams to annoy him. This film is so high concept I am waiting for someone to yell cut offscreen to reveal Christopher Nolan who yells out "print it". We follow Leo and his acting pals go to lunch and discuss the various problems of their lives and whatever projects they are working on when the film wraps. Perhaps leo could brake the fourth wall
and tell us how important it is to recycle. I am going to eventually finish the film, but I don't think my above fantasy will happen, although it would prove to be much more interesting.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

The Outlaw Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood's "The Outlaw Josey Wales" is a fantastic film if you can get past seeing Clint shoot everybody who comes into his view. He plays an ex confederate soldier whose family is slaughtered before his eyes by a post Civil War pro union group. He becomes a fugitive after mowing down most of a Union group with a gatling gun. It's a fun scene to watch but it's a big contrast to the majority of scenes that take a very naturalistic approach.
Lone Waite, a character he meets along the way is played by Chief Dan George who gives the best performance of the film. He steals just about every scene with Eastwood by acting so natural and minimalistic. He would not be out of place in a mumblecore film. Josey meets other colorful characters during his journey and the film begins to resemble an enjoyable road film interrupted by Eastwood giving us his best squinty eyes and killing people who are after the bounty on his head.
The film has such a minimalistic tone that every character and scene are expected to be understood rather than explained. To Eastwood's credit, he expects his audience to figure everything out on their own and connect the dots themselves. That is until you start seeing and hearing the bullets flying everywhere. Still, this must be one of his best films. It might be a revisionist Western that aims to be something more, but in the end it is a damned good one.