Reflections on Winter's Eve

John Steinbeck left us on this day in 1968, on the eve of the winter solstice. 

I've read all but a handful of his 20-some books. My favorite is The Grapes of Wrath, the story of Oklahoma migrants traveling Route 66 to the promise of a better life in California. I read it when I lived in Grants, New Mexico while student teaching, actually on Route 66 too, sitting on a bench on Main St., imagining the ghosts of the migrants passing by. 

My second favorite is, Travels With Charley:

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness."

Let's remember that Sunday night when the temperature drops to 7°.

From The Winter of Our Discontent:

"No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to suppose that they are like himself."

I'm not sure I agree with that. You would need to really know about another human being to begin with, in order to even know if you were wrong about them. Besides, Steinbeck and I share a birthday and I've always felt a special kinship with him. The notion that I don't know him seems ridiculous, and yet, if there's truth to his quote, it could simultaneously be a counterexample proving that I don't know him as well as I think I do!

From East of Eden:

"And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about."

My favorite Steinbeck story is that he lost his manuscript of the Red Pony, so he wrote it over. Later the original manuscript was found, and the two only differed by seven words!

Where would we be with no Steinbeck? Without him humanizing the New Deal ideals in The Grapes of Wrath, would have the legislation proven to be so enduring?

So rest in peace John Steinbeck, and good work. Is he even gone though? He also said this in To a God Unknown:

"Life cannot be cut off quickly. One cannot be dead until the things he changed are dead."

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I think Rick and Morty is one of the best shows in the history of television. I used to tell the doubters that even the likes of Yuval Noah Harari said he binge-watched the the entire series, AND then proceeded to binge-watch the whole thing again. I know that's an appeal to authority, but who cares. I don't think there's anybody with more credibility on the planet.

I learned a tidbit tonight though that one-ups that.

None other than Russian dissident, Alexie Navalny, watched it with his wife, on the the flight back to Russia where he knew he was going to be imprisoned, likely for the rest of his life, which unfortunately ended up to be true, AND he also quoted Rick in the show trial that he knew he was bound to lose. 

"To live is to risk it all. Otherwise, you're just an inert chunk of randomly assembled molecules drifting wherever the universe blows you."

Zowie, how about that as an example of the interconnection between art and life? Higher praise of Rick and Morty is simply not possible.

December 20, 2024

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I'm watching The Rise of Skywalker in a couple hours. I just rewatched The Last Jedi in preperation... forgot how much I really liked it.

Existentislists Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker are right… our future is up to us. Our lineage doesn't define us, we define ourselves. There are no chosen ones, no only hopes, no sacred texts to save us. There's no mythical hero who will come and "save us with a laser sword," or with anything else for that matter. We save ourselves. Everybody can be a hero. 

This goes right back to the essence of Joseph Campbell's teachings, from whom George Lucas learned everything. The hero's journey is the archetype present in all art, legends, literature, film, religion, etc. We are to take the archetypes, apply them to our own lives, and live better. We can be own own heroes, and in fact when we look back on our own lives, we should see a hero's journey.

Black Elk was asked once about the Lakota's sacred mountain. What's so special about it? Well their mountain is special to THEM, but it's not special intrinsically. But Black Elk added with the height of human wisdom- "but the sacred mountain is everywhere." 

Every culture and belief system has their own sacred mountain. This kind of thinking sacrifices provincialism (the notion that our own belief systems are somehow special), for unity and participation in the oneness of humankind.

A key element of The Last Jedi is exactly this sacrifice, seen in Yoda joyously burning down the tree with the sacred Jedi texts as one example. In Star Wars, the Jedi/Sith opposing worldviews serve to separate. In our world, nationalism and religion often serve to separate. In ultimate irony, some people even battle over their different interpretations of Star Wars itself!

It's kind of perfect for me right now. I'm really hoping The Rise of Skywalker doesn't subvert the lessons of The Last Jedi.

December 20, 2019

Postscript- I liked The Rise of Skywalker when I watched it, but in retrospect, it's shit.

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Just make sure everyone understands... no president has ever done more for "religion itself" than Trump, says moral-degenerate Trump. Does that strike anybody as something a cult leader might say???

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I wonder if that had anything to do with this.

Christianity Today- Trump Should Be Removed from Office

I don't post items too often from Christianity Today, that's for sure. This is in everyone's best interest to read... the conclusion is result of listening to cognitive dissonance, standing on principal (whether or not you agree with their principle) and a denunciation of tribalism. An excerpt:

But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.

The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/trump-should-be-removed-from-office.html

December 20, 2019

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Obama just permanently preserved the Arctic and Atlantic from drilling, finally some good news. Now let me just check to see who is in charge of executing that law........ oh shit!

December 20, 2016

Postscript- Any reason he didn't do that in 2008???

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Sloth doesn't eat meat often, but when he does it's for a special reason. While on vacation in Florida, he put a mortally wounded cottonmouth out of his misery, butchered it, and ate it. This was a few days ago, and come to think of it I don't think I've heard from him since.

December 20, 2015

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My Favorite Movies of the Decade

The ones with asterisks are lesser-known movies I'd suggestion for everyone. Here's my list: 

49 Up * 

28 Days Later 

About Schmidt 

AI 

All the Real Girls 

Amelie 

Amores Perros 

Bamboozled 

Before Sunset 

The Bridge 

Capturing the Friedmans 

City of God 

The Corporation 

The Cove * 

Darwin's Nightmare 

The Dreamers 

Enron 

Eternal Sunshine 

Fog of War 

George Washington 

Ghost Dog 

Ghost World 

In America 

King of Kong * 

Lost in Translation 

Man on Wire * 

Milk 

Mulholland Dr. 

The New World 

No Country for Old Men 

Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story * 

Requiem for a Dream 

Revenge of the Sith 

Royal Tenenbaums 

Spiderman 2 

Station Agent * 

Synecdoche NY 

There Will Be Blood 

Touching the Void 

True Meaning of Pictures * 

Walk the Line 

War Photographer 

Watchmen 

Weather Underground 

December 20, 2009

Postscript- That list used to mean so much to me. I was irresistibly drawn back to all of them, but I'm not like that anymore. I'm not really sure how many I would enjoy rewatching.

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On this day in 1991, a Missouri court sentenced the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina. In general I don't believe in the death penalty, but good riddance. If I was the president and had the power to drone them before they did it, I would have. I think anybody with any morals would have done the same thing if it was within their power. We either respect basic human rights or except cultures that are against them. Some things are simply wrong. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness supersedes any backward belief systems.

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On this day in 2019, Trump created Space Farce, I mean Space Force. I think it's a mistake to militarize space, and I think it's a mistake for Biden to go along with it. Space Force is too provocative, no doubt intentionally. We absolutely do need to defend ourselves from space, and we always need to focus strictly on defense.

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American hero, Branch Rickey, was born on this day in 1881. He put himself out and brought Jackie Robinson to the major leagues.

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Fred Merkle was born on this day in 1888, no doubt the player with the most famous boner in Major League Baseball history. It even has its own Wikipedia page.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle%27s_Boner

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Physicist, neuropsychologist, and philosopher, David Bohm, join us on this day in 1917.

"Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based upon our perceptions. What we perceive depends on what we look for. What we look for depends on what we think. What we think depends on what we perceive. What we perceive determines what we believe. What we believe determines what we take to be true. What we take to be true is our reality."

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Oscar Gamble joined us on this day in 1949. He was once asked about the cast of characters in the Yankees clubhouse including Reggie Jackson, Lou Piniella, Ruppert Jones, Bobby Murcer, Dave Righetti and Bobby Brown, among others. Know what he said?

"They don't think it be like it is but it do." 

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Flim-flam artist, Uri Geller, was born on this day in 1946.

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Billy Bragg joined us on this day in 1957. From A New England:

I loved the words you wrote to me

But that was bloody yesterday

I can't survive on what you send

Every time you need a friend

I saw two shooting stars last night

I wished on them but they were only satellites

It's wrong to wish on space hardware

I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care

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Other notable birthdays- Jenny Agutter (1952), Alain de Botton (1969)

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Jonah Hill joined us in this day in 1983, the brunt of the famous Sarah Silverman joke from the James Franco roast:

"Right before the show started, Seth Rogen rolled a gigantic fatty. Because that was the only way we could get Jonah Hill onto the stage."

God damn, that is a serious honor!

https://youtu.be/ZPC40Oou5WM

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Sacagawea, of the Lemhi Shoshone, left us on this day in 1812 at the age of 24.

"Amazing the things you find when you bother to search for them."

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English cricket star, Dick Spooner, left us on this day in 1997. Sounds like a trick.

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We lost Brittany Murphy on this day in 2009. From 1998:

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Other notable deathdays- Bobby Darin (1973), Stanley Milgram (1984), Hank Snow (1999)

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Rolling Stone- Obama'a Big Sellout

As always, the best criticism of Obama comes from the non-idealogues. Great article explaining the current socialization of risk and privatization of profit...

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/31234647/obamas_big_sellout

December 20, 2009

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Neatorama- The first photograph of an extraterrestrial lake

One step closer to discovering extraterrestrial life... an extraterrestrial lake.

http://www.neatorama.com/2009/12/18/the-first-photograph-of-an-extraterrestrial-lake/

December 20, 2009

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Shit Girls Say- Episode 2

Twitter has come to life.

https://youtu.be/kbovd-e-hRg

December 20, 2011

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Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot animated:

https://youtu.be/EgAnh8OB83U

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AV Club- Sarah Palin and others protest the revoking of Duck Dynasty star's First Amendment rights to be on a TV show

Haha, morons, just saying stuff.

http://avc.lu/1c4v886

December 20, 2013

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Washington Post Opinion- Russia hasn’t just hacked our computer systems. It’s hacked our minds. By Fareed Zakaria

"Trump understands that a sensational lie is far more effective than a complicated truth."

60 million believe his election lies, and he met with Flynn the day after Flynn called for martial law, and you might have noticed him replacing key defense officials with hyper-loyalists. Democracy will prevail, but stay tuned.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/russia-hasnt-just-hacked-our-computer-systems-its-hacked-our-minds/2020/12/17/7ddd72a8-40a7-11eb-8bc0-ae155bee4aff_story.html

December 20, 2020

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I think about this old Daily Show interview with Studs Terkel all the time. Studs nails a primary, but often over-looked, tenet we have in this country. I think about it every morning I wake up and see that the president said something idiotic. We can tell the president to bugger off! In my opinion, an excellent right to take advantage of.

Studs: "We were raised by argument. Tom Paine wrote Common Sense, where commoners could tell royalty to bugger off. We have a president, so-called, and the fact is we can tell the president, to bugger off! By the way, that's being American!"

http://www.cc.com/video-playlists/kw3fj0/the-opposition-with-jordan-klepper-welcome-to-the-opposition-w--jordan-klepper/yth8q7

December 20, 2020

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Legends of Lancaster- The Belsnickel

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/legends-of-lancaster-meet-the-belsnickel-a-not-so-jolly-christmastime-character-dressed-in-furs/article_3671697e-fd56-11e8-aa86-438532fd3911.html

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Robert Frost- "The best way out is always through."

I wonder if he ever got a splinter.

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Thanks to Mitch, I often think about the differences between stop lights and bananas.

"With a stop light, green means 'go' and yellow means 'slow down'. With a banana, however, it is quite the opposite. Yellow means 'go', green means 'whoa, slow down', and red means 'where the heck did you get that banana?'"

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Xenophanes- "It takes a wise man to recognize a wise man."

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Steven Wright:

I saw a sign at a gas station. It said 'help wanted'. There was another sign below it that said 'self service'. So I hired myself. Then I made myself the boss. I gave myself a raise. I paid myself. Then I quit.

When I turned two I was really anxious, because I'd doubled my age in a year. I thought, if this keeps up, by the time I'm six I'll be ninety.

Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety one?

You know when you're sitting on a chair and you lean back so you're just on two legs and you lean too far so you almost fall over but at the last second you catch yourself? I feel like that all the time.

I installed a skylight in my apartment... the people who live above me are furious!

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Arthur C. Clarke- "In my life I have found two things of priceless worth - learning and loving. Nothing else - not fame, not power, not achievement for its own sake - can possible have the same lasting value. For when your life is over, if you can say 'I have learned' and 'I have loved,' you will also be able to say 'I have been happy."

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Bill Hicks- "I was in Nashville, Tennessee last year. After the show I went to a Waffle House. I'm not proud of it, I was hungry. And I'm alone, I'm eating and I'm reading a book, right? Waitress walks over to me: 'Hey, whatcha readin' for?' Isn't that the weirdest fuckin' question you've ever heard? Not what am I reading, but what am I reading FOR? Well, goddamnit, ya stumped me! Why do I read? Well . . . hmmm...I dunno...I guess I read for a lot of reasons and the main one is so I don't end up being a fuckin' waffle waitress."

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Hitchens- "He's a man [George W. Bush] who is lucky to be governor of Texas. He is a man who is unusually incurious, abnormally unintelligent, amazingly inarticulate, fantastically uncultured, extraordinarily uneducated, and apparently quite proud of all these things."

Postscript- Makes you wonder what hecd say about Trump! Some Trump supporters say Hitchens would love him, because he shook things up. Hitchens was absolutely nothing if not anti-authoritarian. He would have written the proverbial Bible of anti-Trumpism.

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Woody Allen- "The difference between Sex and Death is that with death you can do it alone and no one is going to make fun of you."

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Vonnegut- “Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber.” 

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The great Carl Sagan left us on this day in 1996. He would say that it's as if he's speaking from beyond the grave.

"I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. I want to grow really old with my wife, Annie, whom I dearly love. I want to see my younger children grow up and to play a role in their character and intellectual development. I want to meet still unconceived grandchildren. There are scientific problems whose outcomes I long to witness—such as the exploration of many of the worlds in our Solar System and the search for life elsewhere. I want to learn how major trends in human history, both hopeful and worrisome, work themselves out: the dangers and promise of our technology, say; the emancipation of women; the growing political, economic, and technological ascendancy of China; interstellar flight. If there were life after death, I might, no matter when I die, satisfy most of these deep curiosities and longings. But if death is nothing more than an endless dreamless sleep, this is a forlorn hope. Maybe this perspective has given me a little extra motivation to stay alive. The world is so exquisite, with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better, it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look Death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides."