To thine own self be true

(with special affects by R.D.)

original picture by Benjamin R. Haydon, 1816

I predict great disappointment amongst Mockingbird fans. Its likely lesser quality will definitely take something away from the classic. TKAM was a one-shot wonder–that was a large part of its uniqueness, specialness and timing. Harper Lee got that one so right that any variation can only detract from or diminish the shine and halo of a classic work.

That the new book is being released to bolster the failing book publishers and their industry is the height of cynicism, much like going strictly by weekend box office receipts to determine if a movie is good or worth seeing. In the end, it is the pre-release buzz and advance sales (#1 on Amazon 5 months before publication) that have sealed this book’s release, not it quality or merits as art, Miss Lee’s dubious consent aside.

After yesterday’s landmark court ruling in Canada on the right to die, I would not be surprised to see this option extended to one and all within 20 years time. The argument will come down to: “I did not ask to be born and had no choice in the matter. But I want to consciously choose my exit point and assert control over my own life on my way out.” Overpopulation and economics as well as declining health care options for the elderly will also force this option. It will be seen as a freedom option, but also a very pragmatic one. And who will say No to something that’ll save a government muchos money while empowering individuals? the old sacredness of life argument regardless of one’s condition will bite the dust and die a hard death itself.

Still a very interesting, intriguing film after all these years. Cosmologist Stephen Hawking’s ideas and theories are the main attraction, but he has had an amazing life which included a fall down a long university staircase, an ALS diagnosis with continuing declining physical powers (paralleling the universe’s entropy he has studied), and surviving a car accident in which he was run over, but back at work the following week!

Everything about this movie is entertaining including interviews with his supportive mother and the scientists who know him well, Philip Glass’s remarkable film score written without seeing any of the movie’s scenes (!), and thoughtful direction by the ever-unconventional Errol Morris who makes the theoretical physics more exciting than a mere adaptation of theories from Hawking’s best-selling book.

There is no question that Hawking is a genius of consciousness since that is basically all that he has been left with plus his computer program clicker which enables him to communicate and speak via voice synthesizer. Is he a genius on a par with Newton and Einstein? I think you’d have to say yes because of how much he has made understandable about the universe and its processes: black holes, entropy, and the deep nature of time. He has one of the most brilliant imaginations and minds that has ever been, and Morris has gone a long way to helping us appreciate what Hawking and his ideas are about. Highly recommended.

Hugely overrated. In no way is this film a masterpiece or a miracle. Weak trivial ‘plot’. Uninteresting episodes. Not much here of note. Boy himself lacks interest, depth, and consequence. Familiar domestic situations do not rise above clichés. (All three husbands have substance abuse problems; two have power-control issues. One of the fathers is nastily abusive to his family.) Movie lacks focus–drifts to boy’s first father and mother, who, in some ways, are more interesting than Mason, who, at best, can only mutter some clichés.

The only interesting, truthful scenes are with Mason’s girlfriend in the truck and when they break up. Those scenes have an honest feel and something to say about the communication problems between the sexes and the values of late adolescents. Music wanders likewise. There are far many more interesting, truth-full movies about male coming-of-age. A pretentious movie which drifts meaninglessly like the protagonist. A truly weak candidate for Best Movie.

Linklater deserves no awards for his insipid, casual, free-fall-random, undistinctive, uninspired  ‘directing’ and mediocre-plotted and empty, cliched-character screenplay. These nomination frauds are on the level of Malick’s worst movie Tree of Life.

I don’t have a major problem with Hawke’s and Arquette’s nods for Supporting roles. They, at least, do give performances (unlike the boy) and have some redeeming features as changing parents. Editing is unremarkable since there’s nothing major, significant, or valuable to link and set off.

The concept of shooting the same characters over 12 years is just a simplistic gimmick that does not yield interesting insights or great success in 165 boring minutes. I hope I never see another Linklater film or Ellar Coltrane onscreen again.

is the coincidence of language, especially on the same day. On the weekend, I used ‘”ain’t” for emphasis in this blog. The same day, unaware of the entry, my coauthor-friend sent me a piece on dictionary changes which included the word “ain’t”. Yesterday morning’s shopping trip to Sobey’s was bookended in the evening by the mention of a director named Frank Sobey who directed the next episode of The Time Tunnel tv series which I have been watching. (The only other Sobey I’ve ever known or heard of was back in elementary school.)

There are of course, many words, word combinations, or word coincidences, as in these cases. In the first place, one has to be aware of these coincidences, then is left to ponder why they have occurred in close proximity. Is there some meaning or purpose to all of this? Yet another of life’s mysteries which, nonetheless, registers for those who are sensitive to language and its coincidences.

(Edison’s gift miraculously lighting the darkness of Edmonton–outdoor patio globe light, MacDonald Hotel, with full moon in distance)

Well, what a PBS documentary on Thomas Edison! Amazing man. Incredible life. Stupendous inventing. (Indeed, the Father of Invention picking up where the Grandfather of Invention Leonardo da Vinci started.) 1000 patents! The guy who gave light to the world. The guy who made it possible to record sounds, music, and motion. I would definitely put him on close to a par with da Vinci since he realized so many of the miracles he imagined. In terms of his great influence world-wide, he has to be given serious consideration as the ultimate genius and principal civilized-gifts-of-self-man of and for all time.

Others, certainly, are close to the top–Michelangelo, Beethoven, and Shakespeare–for their likewise tangible still-majorly-influencing work. And there is no question that these three, for instance, would be the top men of their areas in art, music, and language/literature/drama/poetry. For anyone searching for models or ideals, for anyone searching for lofty examples, imaginations, spirits, and gifting, it would be hard to name five more prominent guys in the history of Western civilization and, likely, the world.

(a lone traveller on the beach: living-room sofa cushion)

I choose this island
and its freedom from false face.
I select a landfall apart
from the swell and tides of others.

I claim this lone strand
for the Dominion of Self.
Unattended by minions, I live
without the cant of congregations.

Self-governed, yet worthy
I shun the uncentered
fawners for lost pieces
in the shadows of Other.

I pick my comings and goings,
my music and arts.
I cull first flowers
and pitch the weeds of dependence.

My mind sharpens and sculpts itself
in monuments to glory and love
begging naught of another.

I go it alone, unafraid and unperplexed.
Respectful of this reign,
my hopes people this island.

I harvest the metaphors of life
with a timeless abandon
that knows no thought of Other.

Bygone, the grey deep moans,
now distant, unheard.

***************************************************************************

“I sometimes think I inhabit my own country.”–Tennessee Williams

A major turning point in my life from about 1990 A.D.. A very strengthful detachment and repositioning of my life. And, looking back, far from a simple, mindless, conventional withdrawal or escape. A rebirth of significant personal consciousness and a new, truer identity as things turned out. I ‘remade’ myself in this single, signature poem and (re)confirmed my own autonomous self. And “the rest has made all the difference”, as Frost said.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

(poem previously published here Aug. 24, 2012)

(old-fashioned horse and buggy technology on fantastic, guided 2-hour-tour-ride of Victoria–pleasurable old technology still works; no screen can replace this simple, fun experience)

Where would we be without it? No question many technologies have contributed to the development of civilization and to our daily lives. I am grateful for each one listed below and the people that created them to make life more bearable, comfortable, convenient, fun, and healthy. In no particular order:

Communications: (reading, writing, pleasurable listening and viewing, teaching, film classification, school, university–all would have been impossible without technology)

papyrus, paper, pencil, pen, word processor

movable type, printing press, printers

books, newspapers, magazines

telephone, e-mail

radio, tv

phonograph, CD, DVD

Wheels:

wagon, cart, buggy, bike, train, car, bus, mass transit (also electrical)

Construction: (what would we live, work, and holiday in without)

nail, hammer, screw, screwdriver, drill, saw, tape measure, ladder

houses, buildings

furniture–chair, table, couch, lamp

flooring, carpet

windows, doors, locks

architecture, bridges arenas, stadiums, churches

Steam:

internal combustion engine: early factories, machines, trains (19th century on travel)

Gas & Oil:

gas and oil furnace heating (where would Edmo, Canada be without…)

motor vehicle mobility (travel, increased personal mobility and freedom)–including planes

Electricity:

light bulb, battery

electric sewing machine (for mass making clothes)

stove, dishwasher, microwave, vacuum cleaner

electrical appliances: toaster, mixer, kettle

car radio, the other electrical communications devices

airplane (basically so)

lawn mower (also gas)

Refrigeration:

freezer

fridge

A/C

Food and Beverage Technology:

fork, knife, spoon, cup, mug, glass, containers

processed food

many types of beverages and food–tea, coffee, juice, pop, bread, yogurt, cereal, fruit, vegetables

alcohol–wine, beer, etc.

Sanitation:

plumbing, toilets, sinks, toilet paper, paper towel, tissue, hand sanitizer

pasteurization and food inspection system

garbage removal

Medicine:

syringe and vaccination

penicillin

antibiotics

The Pill

Prozac and all the other wonder drugs

Transistor and Wireless:

portable devices–transistor radio (my 2 transistor radio that brought me music from the U.S. late at night and accompanied me in all seasons while delivering newspapers), cellphone

microphones, amplifiers (also for mass communication) for speeches, music

performances (where would I, as conference presenter, performing musician have been without…), modern mass sound systems

A Long Vital Miscellaneous:

Early Heating–match

Early Clothes–needle, thread, thimble

Cocks and Watches–mechanized, electric, battery (how could anything get done in an organized way, how could anyone predict without)

Plow–imagine all early agricultural development without)

Boats–life on water unimaginable without; all the harborfront cities would not have developed without)

Aids to Daily Living–wheelchairs, glasses, contact lens, hearing aid

Internet and WWW–as an instant mobile information source via computer

Musical Instruments–(as a performing musician to many thousands, where would I…)

Credit Cards–allowing us to buy and bank anywhere

Delivery Systems–newspapers, mail, UPS, Canpar, Amazon and other online systems

Reproduction Technology: camera–still and moving, photograph, photocopier, fax, scanner; recording equipment–tape, cassette, CD recorder

Children’s Toys

Technologies that Develop/ed and Sustain Flowers, Plants, and Trees

Road-Building Technologies–streets, highways to facilitate travel and access

Technologies that Support and Develop/ed the Arts–painting, sculpture, painting, architecture, film, photography, music

Mosquito Repellant–(could one survive in most of Canada without?)

……………………………

Our lives are dependent on many technologies (and tools). The above would be the most basic and vital for daily survival, functionality, and convenience. But, as Thornton Wilder suggested, we not only got here, but survive personally and as a species, by the skin of our teeth.

One is blind if one is also not aware of the many things that could threaten and slowly or suddenly end our technology, our planet and us: wars, nuclear warfare, resource depletion (e.g., forests hewn down, water sources disappearing in dry places, pesticides leading to reduced butterfly population and decline in human food sources), melting ice caps, mysterious diseases resisting antibiotics and rapid potential plague mobility, failure of economic and banking systems, increased natural disasters, failure of power and electrical systems, to say nothing of living in a random meteoric bowling alley.

Every day I am thankful I and we are still here and are able to live and enjoy our lives with various realized technologies that intelligent, creative individuals and groups have made to truly advance our societies, cultures, and civilization. Technology-wise alone, it is all a lot to take in, comprehend, and appreciate. But technology does define who we are and how very far we have come. Simply put, we owe it a lot.

…………………….

(this blog entry1st published here May 20, 2014)

and rampant violence in the world; in our own society, often without any consequences from diminishing law and order. We see very few things or people that inspire, who are heroic, or true geniuses except at things like making a bunch of money. In fact, the world has narrowed down to an extremely limited mental focus on money and materialism, an inhuman economic system, and an obsession with how much things cost or if they are free.

The enlargement of human powers and creative powers are very low priorities as are institutions (which used to make civilization and societies work), and the relief of global human misery. The machinery that has evolved in the past decade keeps man in subjection, removing his independence, autonomy, and innate self-confidence. Nobody in the West can function without their screens anymore.

More and more, one can feel a general widespread angst, dread, fear permeating all beneath the cheery surfaces of the increasingly fake, pleasured e-world. There is, more and more, an underlying sense of hopelessness that is setting in in the wake of grinchy government deconstructions of institutions or public services and, subsequently, people’s lives and public supports. I believe the signs are all around us (well-documented by the media) of a new emerging period of barbarism and a serious decline in the power of human kindness and caring. After all, the public takes its cues from government actions and hostility to the public (especially its most vulnerable citizens).

What the 19th century taught us about human sympathy being more important than ideology and a zillion agendas would be considered laughable today by many. Though we are part of the whole, that whole–as Yeats (someone no longer studied in schools)predicted in “The Second Coming”– is rapidly coming apart. There is no centre at this point in time, certainly not Apple or the latest e-gadget. The worst (as in the Boko Haram and ISIS types) continue to run amok as the rest of the world too often stands down or turns a blind eye.

And certainly, nowhere, do we hear great leaders walking the talk that we are part of the whole, as in Nature. The tailings ponds, coyote and wolf hunts, and weekly train derailments go on with governments’ blessings and indifference. (“We are not in the Nature business or the the people business” is their credo.) The current rule or practice of the perpetual almighty-buck-quest remains: “Kill anything that gets in the way or out of hand even if it’s living or part of the ecosystem.” Well, there ain’t much soul or human sympathy in or about pipeline obsession.

Ironically, there are many alternatives to the ills and evils of our increasingly dehumanized world as well as our greatly diminished connection and responsibility to Nature. It’s a cryin’ shame that the ‘bright’ Brave New E-World has distracted us and hugely failed us and generations to come.

I ain’t seen no screen, government, or business that will truly love a person, a tree, a lake, or the air that we all breathe.