"Do you see the light?" -- The Godfather of Soul in The Blues Brothers
Right, so I'm a romantic at heart. I believe, for example, that one's environment is the direct result of the type of energy expended into that environment. Energy, as we know, is very tangibly positive or negative. What do you do when you inadvertantly open the door to something so darkly negative that dispensing of it becomes a battle you never bargained for? Hope that the conduit for the darkness becomes very busy and has no time for funneling dissatisfaction and frustration your way I suppose...
I've never given up faith that that little light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not -- nor will ever -- overcome it. This, I'm certain, is all a human being can really hope to accomplish in life. And the ability to accomplish this lies in a simple choice one makes to have it accomplished. I so choose.
I'm going bowling with the thundering herd this weekend for The Magnificent Redhead's birthday. Can't imagine a situation more lit by that little light... Then sings my soul...
Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it -- but sail we must and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
So, craziness has been the order of my days lately. But no worries -- everything is working out as it should. This is one of the great mysteries of life: the individual just doesn't have the big picture and is often left dumbstruck by the events going on around them. But I firmly believe everything works toward the good. It is the paradox of entropy. If you're interested, remind me later to run that one past you. It's a pretty good theory, albeit one that sometimes twists my brain around till I am convinced that people like Einstein and Aquinas and Luther and Weber et al just came to the conclusion that being crazy was something they could live with and they weren't going to let it interfere with their work.
Speaking of being crazy, my sister Juliana invited me to attend a play she's currently stage managing in Marietta at the charming Theatre in the Square called Turned Funny based on the memoirs of the beloved Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Celestine Sibley. Sibley too recognized the power in being turned a little funny -- a great southern reference to curdled cream and addled brains. Parts of it really resonated with me as a former journalist and current freelancer, particularly the passion for the physical space of a newsroom and the recognition that personal life is a casualty when you have a love affair with words. A poignant scene comes where she realizes that the abusive, alcoholic husband she married may have been better off if he'd never married her. That perhaps she destroyed him. That's a tough realization and one most people never admit to, particularly Southern women.
Anyway, it was a great show and is receiving a lot of attention and great reviews in the Atlanta papers. And, as always, it was a thrill to see Juli work. She's quite good at what she does and I believe theatre, like writing, just gets in your blood and blossoms.
Also, my sister Laura's all laid up so, if you're willing, send some good thoughts. We're both nursing blisters from our rolling skating excursion with the thundering herd. Not many people know this but I was on TV as kid where I performed a roller disco routine. It took my balance a few minutes to remind my body that I was once quite good at the rink. I had blue and yellow tennis shoe skates. Oh hell yes I did.
Killer songs, people who are killers and [censored]
Due to some irrationality, I had to disable my comments. However, I can still read comments via email -- funny, since no one else can see them I appear to have lost my commentors. So, it was really just about using someone else's forum to rant your ridiculous crap? Typical...
New song from The Killers. Very good. Looking forward to the album. (Brandon Flowers is handsome...)
1. My last post had a pretty glaring split infinitive. I'm still waiting on my definition...
2. Going to see these crazies:
play again tonight. Check the listing in the Flagpole ABC for times.
3. Hezbollah went on T.V. and told Israel not to bomb Beirut or they (Hezbollah) would begin to bomb Tel Aviv. Israel, in a great show of collectively giving them the finger, began to bomb Beirut. No sign of Hezbollah. Israel's pretty much over it...
5. Lord Somber sent me some weird photos. Here's one for your Friday viewing pleasure:
6. And finally, I'm most pleased with the Bud Light "Real Men of Genius" radio ad campaign. It never fails to crack me up. "So here's to you Mr. Fortune Cookie fortune writer ... because when you say our luck's about to change, we believe you."
Alright, I have to weigh in on the Mel Gibson thing. This is so touchy but may prove how easy it is for people to point their fingers when they just don't like someone. Should be interesting to see who, if anyone, responds by calling me a bigot. Which, rest assurred, I put heart and soul into seeing that I am not.
Here's what I think:
I think it was all taken out of context. He's clearly got issues with his dad's bigotry and it probably is exacerbated when he drinks. Sounds to me like it's a bit of a smear campaign right before his new movie comes out.
I just can't imagine he's existed in Hollywood for as long as he has if he's truly bigoted against Jewish people. Hollywood -- and I don't think this is a secret -- has a large majority of movers and shakers who are Jewish.
There's no way they'd work with him.
I think it's more likely that the arresting officer recognized that a drunken Mel Gibson was likely easy to bait into a conversation about what's happening withWorld Events. He might happen to believe that the Jews were involved in every major modern conflict; but would anyone think it was bigoted if someone held the opinion that, say, the Moors of the middle ages were involved in every major conflict during their time? They might think it untrue but probably wouldn't accuse racism.
The main reason I think they're trying to ruin him? There was immediate coverage of how much the Malibu police cover for him before anyone even suggested such a thing. That's a hallmark of spin...
However, if it turns out he is that bigoted then I'll be deeply saddened at the frailty of man. Cause the Jews, I believe, are the chosen people. The progenitors of a monothesim that called people individuals and by name. Akhenhaten came close centuries before but the Jews really hit on something. And I owe my faith to them. As does Mel. And I think -- I really do -- that he knows this.
And if you want to know more about what Semitic peoples have done for the modern world, read Thomas Cahill's The Gifts of the Jews. It's a beautiful book. Anonymous you should really give it a shot...
Right, so I'm a romantic at heart. I believe, for example, that one's environment is the direct result of the type of energy expended into that environment. Energy, as we know, is very tangibly positive or negative. What do you do when you inadvertantly open the door to something so darkly negative that dispensing of it becomes a battle you never bargained for? Hope that the conduit for the darkness becomes very busy and has no time for funneling dissatisfaction and frustration your way I suppose...
