"Spectral Orbs"

Every year as we draw into the Pagan new year Samhain, also known as Halloween, I'm often drawn to things of the paranormal. The other day, I spent some time perusing a website created by a group of Chicago based paranormal investigators called Haunted Chicago . This site is very interesting and it covers the activities of this group of investigators. There are pages of the work they've done, how they go about it, where they have investigated, and most importantly, pictures of some phenomenon they have caught on film. Check it out, it'll blow your mind provided your open to this kind of thing. Anyway, after I read about them and saw some of their pictures, I, of course, wanted to try and get some ghosty orb pictures of my own. But, then, something else struck me. I decided before I go out to my fav graveyards in the middle of the night, I'd first pull out all my old pictures and see if there were any orbs in them. This is so weird and cool. Sure enough, they're there. It's strange how I didn't notice these anomalies before but, I guess, because I didn't think to recognize them, I, therefore, didn't. Below are some examples of the ones I found. Check em out. Then, after you've read about the evidence on Haunted Chicago and looked at my own, grab all your own old photos and be prepared to freak out. It's one thing to read and see these types of things on someone else's website but when they appear in your own photos, well, then any arguments you may have been formulating on how the pictures are faked just crumbles.

"Support for the Republican Party, directly and indirectly"

May the gods help us all! Recently, I've been surfing some of the liberal websites out there that are actively helping to educate viewers on how far the RP's money reaches, and how consumers are inadverdently helping to support the RP. It makes me gag! I discovered, only this morning, that my morning addiction, a tall skim latte from Starbucks (owned by Philip Morris owned by Altria) is money in the RP's silk lined pockets. Admittedly, it sometimes seems impossible, or at least extremist, to be diligent about not knowingly supporting organizations that are in direct opposition to one's own convictions. However, thanks to organizations, such as Boycott Bush, the American people have resources available to make the most informed decisions about what we do. Of course, no one should take anything from a single source as fact. The beauty of research is that one has the ability, provided one is willing to make the effort, to get to the bottom of almost anything (maybe, in fact, anything). If you're reading this and interested in knowing how you may be helping to support the RP unaware, then please visit this site, Boycott Bush, as a starting point and be informed.

"How am I not who I am?"

I've been thinking about thinking lately. This self-inquisitive process has probably been influenced by my current reading, film seeing, and DVD buying. I recently began To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, which, so far as I can tell, is an experiment in perspectives and individuality. Woolf's modernist style reminds me of Faulkner though I don't believe he was an influence to her. Frankly, I'm unsure if they even lived in the same era (I'll look into it). Shows what I know. It's more the way dialogue and narration seamlessly blend into eachother (think Sound and the Fury) but the effect can be jarring as well because one tends to lose their bearings in the story. I'm still in the first part of the novel and don't know how it will evolve but, so far, both Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe have been given the most prominence and the deepest insight into their perspectives. Thinking about what other people may be thinking about themselves and their thinking. Confused? We'll see how it unfolds.

This past Friday, I went to see I Heart Huckabees, which is billed as an existentialist comedy. Going in, I didn't really know what to expect beyond a fine cast and the kind of loose capsulation only a critic can give. After seeing the film, which I thought was brilliant, I decided to brush up on my understanding of philosophical ideas, especially existentialism. I consulted my handy dictionary of philosophy. Everyone should have one of these reference guides, afterall, these days philosophical ideas are bandied about and tossed into regular conversation as if adding an ism to any word can make it an original thought. I'm not convinced people always know what they're really talking about. Evidentaly, existentialists believe in the "existence" of things and man as two separate types of being. Man is separate because he has choice over his destiny. Everything else is predetermined. Look at the way we (mankind) refer to everything that isn't part of mankind. It's every "thing," whereas other people are every "one." Interesting. Also, I believe there is a subtextual element that every thing is what it is and cannot be anything else. Meaning, things, no matter what they are, cannot symbolize or be substituted for anything other than exactly what they are. However, man can, because of choice he is changeable. This subtext helped me to understand the title of the movie. I Heart Huckabees, not I love Huckabees, which is the way most people would read it. To an existentialist, the heart symbol does not equate love but only a heart. I think it would be hard to think like an existentialist, all that separateness, not to mention consciously giving up universal symbols like hearts for love.

Lastly, I watched Donnie Darko on Saturday night. Trippy. If you haven't seen it, you should. I can see why it has become a cult classic. It makes one think. It makes one think about sanity. It makes one think about family dynamics. It makes one think about self control. It makes one think about the nature of reality . It makes one think about following one's destiny, literally. It reinforces the idea that things are not what they seem to be. And, yet, in the end, it makes our minds cramp at the thought that the universe does have a kind of chaotic structure that can drop airplane engines on one's house from the future.

How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am?
How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am?
How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am?
How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am? How am I not who I am? . . .

"3 Days and a Stupor"

Even though it rained all day Friday, it was still a much more productive day for me than Saturday. I ran errands most of the day and spent a near fortune on groceries. I normally keep my pantry stocked just enough to get me through the next week but this week I went on a buying frenzy as if I were stocking up for an impending disaster. And maybe I am. It is a very charged political season this year and who knows what may happen after 11/02. I also added two DVDs to my collection: Angels in America and Strange Days. I had never seen the former either on stage or in its HBO production but after seeing all the awards it has gathered over the years and recently at the Emmys, I decided I should check it out. I balled throughout. I laughed a little. But, I mostly got fired up (all over again) about the disgraceful way that Reagan handled the early years of the AIDS epidemic. I've seen the latter film, Strange Days, many times and think it is one of the most imaginative movies ever made. If you haven't seen it, see it. Notice, I'm giving nothing away today.

Friday night, after baking a pan of chocolate brownies, I settled down to watch the second presidential debate. I had the remainder of one of those 1.5 litres of red wine to finish off and to add emotional support, or at least to numb my disgust to all the crap soon to be issuing from George's oral orifice. However, by the end of the debate, which I thought our man Kerry did brilliantly, I also felt quite drunk (5 glasses worth) and a bit full from gorging on all the brownies but one. I awoke latter in the night, around 1am-ish to the beginnings of a nasty hang-over. My nasty hang-over hung over me throughout all of Saturday effectively ruining any chance of accomplishing anything productive that day, such as working on my upcoming Nobel worthy book of thought provoking poetry. Instead, I veged out and watched all of Angels in America and became very emotional. I also continued to gorge on much of the food I'd bought to last me through the impending disaster and now may need to go back to the store sooner rather than later.

Thankfully, as Sunday rolled around, I was able to rally my resources and do some miraculous things. I began the day my working out. Well, I figured with all those folks running in the marathon, I could muster up the energy to lift a few weights for the betterment of my intoxicated muscles. Both they and I felt better afterwards and it sprang us on to our next endeavor which was the assembling of my first ever lasagne. Following my mother's sage advice on lasagne making, I assembled this icon of middle-class American family dinner entrees in the morning to allow the ingredients to marinate and soften the noodles. No precooking of the pasta required. I would return to it later in the evening to bake for about an hour and remember it's suppose to last for many days, no gorging required. In the middle of the day, I met my friend Michelle at Sweet Mandy B's for a cupcake and coffee break. Ever been there? It reminded me of the bakery I recently visited in NYC called Magnolia Bakery. It's one of those places where they make old fashioned baked goods from scratch using full fat products like real butter, cream, and copious amounts of sugar. Mmmmmmm! Then, in the late afternoon, I did work on my Nobel worthy manuscript of thought provoking poetry and really liked how it was shaping up. I'm sure to be recognized soon. Look for me! And the lasagne was/is delicious.

"Highlights of my recent trip to NYC"

I got my pics back yesterday from my trip to NYC last weekend. Oh man, I miss it all over again. I think I've been bit by the Big Apple bug. I could definitely live in that city, if only I could afford the rent! Ah well, enjoy the photos and the memories. Of course, when I hit the big time and have more money than I know what to do with, then I'll have a place in NY as well as LA and somewhere in Europe too.

"The Only Logical Response to Conservatism"

Over the weekend I decided it was time to catch up on some missed films that have come out lately. I saw two, A Dirty Shame and The Forgotten. John Waters, of course, takes the cake as he would in any situation. His film is a rip roaring laugh a minute sex charged response to the overly suppressively constrictingly conservatism that is drowning our nation under the current political climate. If you haven't seen it and your not a republican, then by all means go. However, you want to remember to think about Water's film in the context of the era we are living in. On the surface it may seem like an over the top sex romp without any substance. But when you look a little deeper at the way conservatives and liberals are represented you begin to see the politics underlying the surface story. I believe Water's is responding to the conservative hysteria is recent years including such issues as the dissolution of human rights, the backlash on the homosexual community, and the warmongering against oppressed people. I think the most telling moment out of the film wasn't any of the visuals or sexual stunts but the slogan of the nueters group. "No more tolerance." In Water's films, it's an unreality that we can all laugh at but under the present administration it's all too real. If we don't make our stand against it this November, the next four years may be the death of the entire liberal party. Maybe that sounds extreme. Perhaps we would simply see the second civil war in America?

I also saw The Forgotten. Here's another film that is getting some press, mostly dismal. Admittedly, the film is held together predominantly by unusual special effects and some shocking moments. There was one scene where our heroine Julianne Moore (Telly) and her co-star Dominic West (Ash) are fleeing the feds in a Ash's car. The perspective (for this scene) shows the driver, Ash, in the foreground and Telly in the background. Outside her window you can see the headlights of a car that seems to be coming toward theirs at a leisurely rate of speed. Then, suddenly, they are smashed in the side and the airbags blow. It all happens so fast. I swear it was just like my accident I was in last Christmas. Very surreal moment for me. Anyway, what's interesting about this film is the premise that someone (some thing) could erase not only your memory but also everyone around you so that you effectively would forget a lost loved one. Once again, I see this film as an extreme response to the times. When we all saw Fahrenheit 9/11 (we all saw it, right?) and learned, or had it confirmed, that the Bush, his family, and his administration have been in bed with "the enemy" all along and then in this film we find out that the government is also passively working with the "enemy" (trying not to give anything away) suppossedly for the good of all. It's all so annoying what people will do for power and money.

I also baked a cake this weekend without any thought to politics in its making. Actually, I was thinking about my recent birthday and the fact that I never celebrate the occasion with cake anymore. So I made a buckwheat banana bundt cake. It turned out great! Although, I have found that if you are as frustrated by politics these days as I am and you are not currently a filmmaker, then try baking a cake from scratch. It's good old-fashioned fun, a little work, and the results are yummy! It's my response to ultra- conservatism.