High Risk Investment Houses or Brain Eating Amoebas

The difference between Al Jazeera and CNN is like the difference between Debbie Reynolds and Miley Cyrus; one is a thoughtful beauty and the other is a trashy skank, but they both sing and dance.

Al Jazeera has an agenda as was evident when the 9/11 story was "The Other 9/11: Chile's Junta" an article about the continued healing after the Sept 11th 1973 overthrow and killing of Salvador Allende by Pinochet's military which was supported by that beacon of Quaker peace known as Richard Nixon. Thousands were killed, vanished, tortured or exiled to support Nixon's megalomaniac agenda. Nixon makes Assad look like Gandhi. Al Jazeera does make a case for the lasting problems still experienced and the lasting injuries like those suffered by Alejandro Zuleta who was damned by his conscience to be a student and political activist at a time when Emperor Nixon thought he ruled the world:

"Lieutenant Rivera would crush all my fingers, on both hands, with a metal ruler while sitting in his admiral's desk. Because I, the prisoner of his war, did not provide the answers he wanted to hear, or the way he wanted to hear them."

I found that particular torture interesting because the twisted Nixon could play the piano and Zuleta's hands were forever disabled. There would be no piano playing in his future. I don't think people harbor resentments because they want to punish themselves but rather because they want to keep the memory fresh so they can immediately pounce on anything that resembles their bloody experiences.

Truth in Cinema

Kelly taking advantage of soundless production: "You Reptile..."

When I watch Singin' in The Rain I forget other movies and actors exist. It's like talent wasn't born after 1952. More happens in the first ten minutes...more is shown, exposed, alluded to than most movies dream about. Not only is the premise (Hollywood transitions to talking movies) ambitious, but the musical numbers are both a parody of themselves and showstoppers. It's like an homage and satire and blockbuster all in one. If David Mamet wrote a musical comedy it would look like Singin' in The Rain. It's hard to believe Debbie Reynolds was 20 years old when she played Kathy Selden. Gene Kelly was 40. I'm in awe when I watch this movie.

Call Me Back in 2014

"Is Oggy Bleacher there?"
"Yes. This is Senor Bleacher."
"This call is being recorded."
"Oh, yeah? You gonna put it on YouTube?"
"Mr. Bleacher, this is Collective Services and we are calling on behalf of Citizens Bank."
"You have me confused with someone who cares."
"Mr. Bleacher, I'd like to..."
"Listen, now isn't a good time. I'm working." (Oggy is bending 3/4'' natural gas tubing as a dust storm lashes his eyes)
"I'm sorry to hear that. When would be a better time to call you?"
"2014. One year."
"I can't postpone this call for 3 months."
"No, I didn't say January, I said, one year. A full year. Call me back in September 2014. I'll be free then."
"I see...."
"Do you?"
"Sir, this is regarding..."
(dead serious) "Call me back in one year. That works better for me." (Oggy struggles not to laugh)
"One year?"
"Sure, why not? I'll still be here and you'll still be a hatchet man for a predatory bank, still grinding it out at a dead end call center in Pakistan. Who cares when we have this conversation?"
"Have a good day, Sir."
 (Into a phone with a dial tone) "I'm going to write a clause into my will that none shall ever pay Citizens Bank. You'll get nothing. Not a dime. I'll die with my millions.....hahahahaha....I'll take every nickle to the fucking grave...."

 It left a bad taste in my mouth, of dust, debt, globalized dehumanization, ignored problems, useless and futile circumstances. The majority of my time is reacting to manipulative news cycle designed to repulse and enrage...yet have no impact on my life. Like a puppet on a string I dance with jiggling muffin top madness over my rancher jeans. No point to any of it. I tried to make the news with my wolf quest...and it did succeed in forcing my own imagination into overdrive...but the news was waiting for me when I returned and I made almost no news...only terrorized the coast of Labrador, getting lost, singing on rocky beaches of my own ego.

Staging

"I don't like parents."

Grease is my attempt to numb the pain in my ego. I really question the direction my life is going sometimes. I had bad thoughts rampage unsupervised through my brain today. Thoughts that had me researching "Bipolar" when I got home.

"As mania becomes more severe, individuals begin to behave erratically and impulsively, often making poor decisions due to unrealistic ideas about the future, and may have great difficulty with sleep. At the most severe level, individuals can experience very distorted beliefs about the world known as psychosis."

These aren't related pictures but I only have energy for one post. Not only one dog balancing on top of a truck going about 75 mph down the road...two dogs. Look close.

Amadeus

"That doesn't really work, does it?"

My favorite scene is when Mozart plays (from memory after hearing it once) the "March" Salieri wrote in his honor. But Mozart immediately plays a theme and variation that demonstrates his genius...and diminishes Salieri's. Mozart can't help it.
Salieri says early on, "I prayed to write music that would be loved and that I would be loved." And I pondered this comment. Mozart couldn't care less about his own fame. He was infused with music and wrote what he heard in his head. I know this is the only explanation for his talent. You could say he was touched by God.

For us lesser mortals, the target audience of this movie, we have to work at it.

Salieri asks, "If God had not wanted me to be a musician then why did he give me the desire?"
Maybe the answer is that it isn't God who gives you the desire to do things like write forgettable music.