It's just a Circle Jerk in an Orangutang-Gangbang

I imagine that there are many, many times when individuals and groups of individuals have said to themselves, “How did I/we get here?” People standing in court; people ducking bullets and bombs, trembling under the heavy hand of a degenerate fix, standing by a coffin, waiting for midnight and the footsteps of the guards and the priest. It’s happening every day somewhere. Every day midnight approaches. Every day the storm clouds threaten and somewhere the sun breaks through. Simultaneously these events occur.

These destinies come to nations and cultures as well. Even the revisionist histories of the time record the dates and events, even if the reasons given are not the reasons why. The armies of Wall Street muster at Waterloo. A nation taps its feet in a cosmic toilet. Cartoon characters climb out of cisterns and take over the government. The band plays Amazing Grace as the ship goes down. It really is a movie. It’s a slow movie that escapes the common view but it’s a movie.

No matter what time period you find yourself in, the movie is basically the same. Different things happen to different people. Yesterday it was Tiny doing Slim. Today it’s Slim doing Tiny. Yesterday they were wearing robes, now they’re wearing suits. Yesterday they were throwing rocks, now they’re using guns. There’s always a good reason. The people upstream are urinating in the river. Downstream they are saying the same thing. The reason is never the reason; somebody done somebody wrong.

The film traps the images and the images cannot escape the film. The film plays on a projected canvas and it plays inside the mind. Everything is made out of the same thing; the film and the characters, the backdrops and the objects, the air, the light, the darkness... they are all composed of the same substance that has been particularized by vibration which sets them apart so that interaction can take place and it is all the same substance diversified for the benefit of the movie which loops through the same events with different costumes that the characters exchange with each other after every scene.

How did we get here? We went the same way we always go. We followed the beaten path and here we are. Some say it’s conditioning and some say it’s human nature. Some say it’s destiny and some say it’s fate. Some say it’s God’s will and some say there is no God. It doesn’t make any difference what they say. Surely what waits is affected by what they do but some say they have no control over that either.

Laws circumscribe behavior and then demand the proscribed behavior because the government requires it on some killing field that was drawn by architects who worked for a company funded by banks. Some will tell you that it’s a collective thing because we are all stockholders and we all have a voice and no one is to blame except for the other guys on the visitors end who took the football when we weren’t looking so now we’ve got to take it back and if we score then we’ll kick it off to them again. “Oh, is that what we did? I thought they just took it.”

It’s wrong to notice all of the exposed legs and tight asses crawling with sub dermal snakes under the flexible skin. It’s okay to jackhammer that ass if you get the certificate from the conjugal union rep but it’s not okay to just take it because it was yoke-robbing your eyes. You can’t look even though that’s the point of the design. You shouldn’t even know that it is there although it’s been engineered that way to get your attention. If the pressure builds and something happens it’s your fault because you should have shown more control. Even if the veal is in the deli case you’re not supposed to put it in your cart even if it is for sale. Everybody is somebody’s mother. Everybody is somebody’s daughter. Everybody is dreaming about everybody but they are only dreaming about themselves because everything is made out of the same thing for the purpose of the movie.

It’s okay to do everything that is forbidden if it’s your turn at the top of the wheel or if you are at war. The reason it’s okay is that it will be happening to you in the next reel when it’s your turn in the barrel.

You climb into the movie out of a hole and then spend the whole movie trying to get back into different holes made out of the same thing until they put you in a hole. Everything is designed according to the idea that industry and effort will keep you out of a hole. So you accumulate as much frozen green energy or other people’s lives as you can get in order to block the hole and then they put you into the hole anyway. The hole of life is the hole of death and the fear and fascination are equally matched except when they are not because the push at one end eventually becomes the pull of the other.

There are some several who find out how to fix the process so that it doesn’t move. They manage to make it stationary like a planet in space but the planet still moves on a course around the lamp. Some several have located the heat source and the regulator. There are secret systems but they are surrounded by howling voids. Mostly no one looks anyway and sometimes it can get so cacophonous that even the best efforts are not enough. Then there are special chemicals that you can take which burn away the heavy theater curtains but they are against the law because the presence of the minds that experience it draw attention from the workers who turn the giant wheels that operate the projectors and create the environment of the movie.

Everybody is waiting in line for their opportunity to be the leader of the band, the hero or the villain, the lover or the loved. It can be a long wait. All sorts of talents have to become automatic. An appearance has to be shaped and it has to be the prevailing appearance that draws all of the hearts and minds into the chosen presentation that validates any action taken because the rules are suspended for the star of the show. It’s just what we all wish we’d done and want to do and it is usually against the law but it turns out different for the star of the show. It’s heartbreaking to wait so it is unlikely that any star at any time is going to turn around and tell the audience that the movie isn’t real. This is their moment. And then it’s gone. “Next.”

Everybody gets to be everybody and hardly anybody gets it. It’s here and it’s what it is and there doesn’t seem to be anywhere else but here so it must be real. It must be the way that it is because it is the way that it is. Woe to anyone who seeks to point it out or change it.

In the movies anything can be possible and the potential for anywhere being here is just a matter of scenery and costumes. There are many who make their way in this world while living in another until that world is more real than this world which isn’t real at all.

How to say the thing that might be said is a very good question. If it could be said then it might be said right here, right now. Unfortunately, even if it were possible to say it, it would sound different to everyone who heard it and then... well then some appetite is going to kick in anyway and off they go into the movie, dreaming about the day they get to walk out on the stage. As much as they dream... and they all dream... they only dream... they never dream about the day they walk off the stage and get back into line.

Visible and The Critical List: ♫ Camouflage ♫
'Camouflage' is track no. 8 of 8 on Visible and The Critical List's 1987 album
'La Vierge Sperme Danceur'
About this song (pops up)

It Came from Beneath the Popcorn Machine

It’s about time to talk about movies again and especially since one of the great filmmakers of all time passed away this week, Anthony Minghella. He did it all; writing, producing and directing. He was a lot like David Lean. Unlike many others who worked in film, especially those who had the opportunity to do so, he didn’t fill the atmosphere with an abundance of crap because he wanted the money or whatever the reason is that a lot of directors don’t know when to quit. He and Lean were both class acts with a serious gift.

Mr. Minghella directed “The English Patient”, “Cold Mountain” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, masterpieces all. He also produced some wonderful films. Ironically, the day before he died, I said to myself, “I’ve got to see Ripley again." ...and so I put it on and Susanne and I went away into the sun-drenched spectacle of that sumptuous feast. He will be sorely missed.

I want to say more about him but I don’t know anything about him other than his films and frankly, his work says it all. He was a true sweetheart of the rodeo, as I like to say about those who impress me.

I saw a few films since the last time I made my recommendations and did a little necessary slash and burn as well. “There Will Be Blood” is still stinking up the joint and I want to say it again because I can. Few films have pissed me off as much as this one. “Natural Born Killers” did and I don’t have time to think about some of the others and I don’t want to anyway. Let’s move on to the positive stuff.

Every now and then you see a movie that rocks your world. I saw such a movie last night. It was “The Dreamers” by Bertolucci. As I watched this marvel unfold, as silken as the rain streaming down the window pane in one of the scenes, I found myself in a place I have been only a few times before. That would be every time I saw a film by Minghella or Merchant and Ivory or David Lean. But this... this is a remarkable film. This is a remarkable film.

Near halfway through I said to myself, “Was this not nominated for the Academy Awards? No... and then came the scene where I knew why and therein saw I also why Hollywood is full of shit; quite simply composed of it. I flashed on the breasts and full length nudity that you see on posters and advertising here in Europe and which no one really thinks about, because the naked, human body can be beautiful in Europe but it isn’t in America. I remembered crossing a bridge in Muenchen and seeing dozens of people sunbathing nude below and no one paying attention; unless they were American tourists. I flashed on the English Gardens- also in Muenchen (not really gardens to my taste) and how I would routinely walk past naked people sunbathing while mothers went by with their strollers and kids frolicked about and no one paid any attention. It’s civilized over here. Nobody loses their job over a blowjob; though certainly one might question their taste.

Speaking of taste, I want to say something about the skank that brought Spitzer down but that’s coming up later today. God... it gave me the shivers to look at her and think about what it would be like to be locked up in Abu Ghraib and forced to have sex with her.

Bertolucci is a master. You probably know that. In this film was Eva Green who played the ‘Bond Girl’ in “Casino Royale” (the best Bond of all time on all levels). She was an entirely different person in “The Dreamers”. She is a multidimensional actress and destined to be one of the best actresses of her time. In this film she is amazing. She will take your breath away.

She is the opposite end of the pole from Natalie Portman who shot her wad in “The Professionals” and for whom I had such hope and who had turned out to be the leading exponent of the Al Gore School of Acting. Generally Portman’s work is around the level of Sophie Copola in Godfather 3, which would have to be the worst acting job in any mainstream movie in the history of film.

Eva Green... you heartbreaker par excellance. Bravo! And combined with Bertolucci’s directorial genius you are going to see things and be caught flatfooted in the most enjoyable way. There are various perspectives from which one can watch a film and I’m not going to list any of the categories except to say that I watch films from the director’s standpoint. If the director is good, I won’t notice other shortcomings. If he is not I will notice all of them. I can’t tell you what the shortcomings were because I was mesmerized. I want to go on talking about Eva but it might not end.

Also in the film was Hedwig boy, Michael Pitt who played Hedwig’s love interest. If you haven’t seen, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” stop what you are doing and go rent it now; one of the greatest films of all time and certainly the best soundtrack. I thought “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was a piece of shit, so... why did I mention that? Because I can.

Also in a lead role was Louis Garrel, a French boy who will set your heart aflutter be you male or female. Every player in this movie was deep and delicious. The parents were perfect... the time... the setting... the plot... perfect. It takes place during the time of the riots and barricades in the late 60’s. I’ll tell you no more. If you like a great movie, you owe it to yourself to see this. Do not take your children to this film if you are an American.

Okay... less impressive fare. I saw two movies that had marginal reviews but my intuition was as spot on as ever and these are worth seeing just for what the director was trying to do. “Cherry Crush and “Hard Luck” They are both thrillers and they will surprise you because someone tried really hard to make an enjoyable film. “Hard Luck” was directed by Mario Van Peebles and it looked like he was trying to go to Robert Rodriguez Land. He didn’t get there but it was a nice ride. Don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed. They’re better than the usual fare simply for the effort given and you’ll see it if you know what to look for. Wesley Snipes is in “Hard Luck” by the way.

I’m not going to clutter up my digressions with any more mentions except one. I’m not sure if I have ever mentioned “Van Helsing”. This is a super fun movie with a lot of heart and scenery chewing, humor and great special effects. If you want some pure entertainment, you want to get this movie.

Well... sadly, I must go now; sadly for me anyway because Eva Green will now be relegated to My Back Pages... honestly people, see this film. It’s a winner and I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I have only seen half the film so far. It was so good that I had to save the rest for another night so I can savor it. This is like my relationship with drugs. I can let them sit on the shelf because the anticipation is a big part of the experience. If you can’t do that you shouldn’t do drugs. What the passion of youth in pursuit of truth did not reveal, the cooling of age will manifest as the appetites lose appeal. I’d have liked to have saved that quote for another time and place but there it is anyway.

Visible and The Critical List: ♫ A Love Song for Madonna (NOT)♫
'A Love Song for Madonna' is track no. 12 of 12 on
Visible and The Critical List's 1992 album 'Not Politically Correct'
About this song (pops up)

The Sad Fall of Governor Spitzer

The news is filled these days with the fall of Governor Eliot Spitzer; one time crusading Attorney General for New York State. There is an epidemic of glee with a flaming wheel of spin-offs that address Spitzer’s wife and the routine presence of the wives of men in high places, exposed for sexual indiscretions, standing mutely by their sides. There are articles about high priced hookers and what they’re like and maybe what they had for breakfast and what their favorite colors are. There are articles about the particular hooker who has most certainly been courted with book deals and speaking tours and may soon have her own DVD available that details the practice of sexual acts designed to help you keep your man. All over the internet the holier than thou; the outraged, the accident voyeurs, the chatter-monkeys, the ponderous pontificators and hope to be fornicators are weighing in with their views of what it all means...

There is something ugly in human nature which takes enjoyment from the misery of others. I don’t understand it myself. My first thought is always, “There but for fortune go I.” How people can extract entertainment and satisfaction from the destruction of a life is beyond me. I think of the families and friends and all the work of that man’s life. I think of the sheer human tragedy. I don’t believe that Governor Spitzer went down for this peccadillo; even in the draconian sexual climate of contemporary America’s PC fascist headspace. I think it’s more. I think interests on Wall Street were after him. It’s what makes sense. I think he was had through his weakness and groomed the same way one might groom a child to engage in prurient action. That the purveyor was an Israeli and that the Zionist money men of Wall Street were outraged by his scrutiny says a lot.

Nothing I will say here is to excuse Spitzer’s action but then, Spitzer’s actions are none of my fucking business and none of yours either. Here in Europe we laugh at American prudery and its childish ignorance of human nature. Whatever Spitzer did is not enough to justify his having to step down. One thing doesn’t have to do with the other; neither did Clinton’s blowjob. You self-righteous fools will one day find yourselves in the same position. It’s going to happen. You can’t expect to laugh at human weakness and celebrate someone’s fall and not have it come round and find you one day too. It’s going to happen.

Especially you Christians, you whitened sepulchers, who have missed out entirely on the message of your master, who time and again warned you about such behavior; we are all blind, naked and ignorant of the higher love. Forgiveness and understanding are the very hallmark of the teachings that you ignore at your peril.

When George W. Bush goes down, as he will, I will take no joy from the event. When he and his mass murdering associates without a drop of pity between them, are rendered to dust and their souls sent onward to the perdition that their own conscience will demand, I will have no happiness in the event. It is not mine, nor yours to extract vengeance from the doom of another.

You who have memorized so much scripture and think yourselves such moral folk know jackshit about the meaning of nearly everything contained in the words you spout with such glib assurance. You talk of hellfire and do not know what hellfire is. You talk about Heaven and have no idea what it contains or is composed from. Everything is code and metaphor. It is gematria and numbers woven in a poetry that can be understood only by the finest of minds or that of a child. There are two ways to perceive the intricacy of the matter; one is through wisdom and the other innocence. I speak of regenerated innocence not what is usually understood to be innocence and is rather an amalgam of Pollyanna fantasy and puerile imagination.

Something must be lost before it can be found. One must be broken before they can be strong. The essence of the thing is simplicity itself and not the province of intelligence or clever tongues. Not one in a million find the thing and it surrounds and permeates them at all times and in all places. It animates them. It mixes in the mist and is powerful in the dew. It is a timeless operation of the sun.

You can laugh and make your jokes about the tragedy of this life. A man trips and falls to the ground and the bystanders chortle. You don’t feel. You have no empathy. What can you rightly expect yourself when the time comes?

According to the mores and traditions of the time, this man broke the rules. No doubt he was arrogant in his power. He assumed to himself the privilege that they all do. As you read these words, men and women in positions of power are abusing their station and office. They rape children. They lie and steal. They murder. They shame the elements that compose them. They abuse their trusts and profiteer by the hour and think it will last forever.

Nearly everyone desires more. Nearly everyone looks on others with desire. Everyone imagines opportunity. Some act upon it and some do not but even within their minds the crime is committed. It could have been any one of us. Until you can achieve the awareness that your destiny is the lot of everyone and that an injury to anyone is an injury to all then you have no wisdom, compassion or understanding and you are... nothing at all.

I understand that when they heard the news on Wall Street that a mighty cheer went up. They applauded. Were these all righteous souls whose lives could stand scrutiny? I’ve been at the resorts and in the nightclubs and restaurants. I’ve been in the playgrounds of the rich. I’ve seen what people do. What they think... is resident in their eyes. Hardly a one among them would not take the opportunity to do the same as this man, had they the coin and power to manage it. Hardly one of them that can manage such a thing does not.

It is better for you that you gain humility while it is in your reach. It is better for you that you show discretion in what you celebrate. It is better for you that you cultivate awe before the mighty and transcendent power that orchestrates our lives and that you show compassion for those who fall because you do not know when or in what manner calamity will come upon you and come it will. Sorrow follows life. It tracks our footsteps. It is there always. So long as we are attached to people and things and to ourselves there will be loss and suffering.

My heart goes out to this man and his family. I cannot imagine what they must be feeling and the length of time that remains; the length of time over which they will relive and suffer anew at what has been visited upon them... and it is happening to others all over the world and every hour of every day.

Tread carefully as you go and take this man’s lesson to heart. We live in a time when nothing is enough and the flaming advertisements of the many objects of desire surround us on all sides. What waits for you further on the way? That is the question that should be asked.

Even Outlaws get their share...
Visible sings: ♫ Miracle of Love ♫
'Miracle of Love' is track no. 11 of 13 on Visible's 2007 album 'The Sacred and The Profane'
Lyrics (pops up)

Movies for People Like Us

Well, I like a good movie. Most likely it is because the real life movie is such a drag. Materialism has gotten so bad that I feel like I’m surrounded by wild packs of hungry dogs. It’s not just the pushing and shoving, I’ve managed to put myself where I don’t see much of that. It’s also the cellphones and legions of fat teenagers endlessly finger tapping them for purposes unknown to me. I know the GWEN system’s other function is to disrupt human brain patterns. I could speculate on why but then this wouldn’t be about some of the movies I think you ought to see if you are in the mood for feel good entertainment.

I believe, as do certain of the legitimate mystery schools, that there are different rays on which we travel homeward. We are members of different groups whose aspirations and tastes are widely varied. We’re living in different worlds and we are headed for different worlds. In the matter of movies, some of us like thrillers and some of us like romance flicks. Some of us like horror and some of us prefer television because some of us are as dumb as the advertisers think we are. Yes, some of us are so stupid that it’s hard to imagine unless you are one of them and then imagination won’t be a factor anyway. Some of us are very bright and there are two categories for that. It is from this group that all of the world’s ills and blessings proceed. I seem to have gotten off on a tangent but; so what?

Yes... I probably like movies as much as I do because I am a dreamer and an escapist. As a child, I spent many hours in fruit trees reading books. My world was not a pleasant place to live in so I had to find other worlds. Books provided them. The world’s worse now than it was then but it’s a lot easier for me to manage. Stay away from large population areas. Don’t watch TV. Eat right and exercise. Be self sufficient power wise. Get off the grid. Your possibility of survival will greatly increase in the coming upheavals. And those upheavals are coming. Those of you who like horror and thrillers and disaster films are going to get a double bonus. You’re going to get to be in one, even if it’s only as an extra.

Why am I doing this in a post about movies? Because I can. If I want to I can just start typing a’ljk w f wopeiw epowi wem mk 234-0452-0250-81238 nv] =\\-92-q

Q{}ofwlwpwoiqd\-9[Qw90 =-e294q\-93r[worl3p3qqw,0qwp[ ... and no one is going to stop me. Now that’s power. I could just start writing an intense erotic vignette. I could rant and scream or turn into a porcelain waterfall of frozen rope and just go right on without explaining what that means. Anything could happen, including a report on movies that won’t disappoint and will leave you feeling better after you’ve seen them.

Let’s do that.

John Favreau is an interesting guy. You might know him from the film “Swingers”. He’s lost his hair and put on some weight since those days and I’m getting the impression he’s a happily married man who loves his children (if he has any). He comes across as a human being. I like him and I can’t say why exactly. I always remember who he is and I wonder about him sometimes. He made a movie called “Zathura”. You could call it a kid’s movie but I would call it a movie for all ages. This is a wonderful piece of film-making and if you haven’t seen it you are going to thank me for bringing it to your attention. You’ll probably like John Favreau as much as I do after you’ve watched this movie. I’d go so far as to say, “Buy it.”

Let’s say you’re thinking about watching two movies in one night and you want to feel twice as good after seeing them. Then you’ve got to follow Zathura with “The Last Mimzy”. I’m not going to tell you anything about this movie except to say it’s another movie for all ages masquerading as a kid’s movie. See both of these movies with someone you care about. They are both as good as each other.

Terry Gilliam has done some wonderful things. He’s not like anybody else and that’s good news for the rest of us who aren’t like everybody else. Our numbers are shrinking all the time so there’s less entertainment and fewer books for people like us; well, there isn’t anyone like us is there? Let’s say for people like us who aren’t like everyone else. The world of free range imagination has been poisoned in the same way the astral realm got poisoned when the wrong people and everyone else who is like everyone else started dropping acid. In the beginning there was hardly anyone else there and everyone who was there was an asset. Then came the Manson family and the C.I.A. approved hallucinogenics and that area of being turned into an S. Clay Wilson comic with Captain Pissgums and Ruby the Dyke. The astral fields of dancing meadows and sweet etheric entities began to turn into an R. Crumb backdrop full of Honeybunch Kaminski’s being porked by horny rabbits. Wave bye bye as the red bull drives the unicorn into the sea.

Terry Gilliam did a film called “Time Bandits” and I consider it his finest work. If you’re not like everybody else then this film will make you long for what we do not have and give you a window of time in which to possess it for a little while.

Now I’m going to go into a different area and mention three movies that are similar enough, without being anything like each other, except for two of them having the occasional strange creature popping up. It’s probably a good idea to start with Donnie Darko which was one of Jake Gyllenhaal’s stopovers on the way to Brokeback Mountain (which I haven’t seen). The real world is a bummer and it shows up in this film but so does the other world that the rest of us, who aren’t like everyone else, live in when we can. It’s something Camus might have written if he had a sense of humor and was around today. Most people might not get this because irony is dead. Inexplicable misfortune is not dead though, even if some of its victims are. You can’t see Donnie Darko and forget you saw it.

The Chumscrubber is a lot like Donnie Darko. They could have called it “The Son of Donnie Darko.” Or “It Came from Beneath the Donnie Darko” and not have been far off base. Both of these movies have a little bit of “American Beauty” in them without being as real world tragic. Well... that’s hard to say. You’d have to make that call.

Charlie Bartlett is like these films but I couldn’t tell you why. What I can tell you is that Anton Yelchin is a serious player and that one day he’s going to be a great actor, possibly legendary. He does a few things in this movie that are going to make you go, “Wow!” or at least raise your eyebrows. This film has the added benefit of having Robert Downey Jr. who is one of the best actors of our time. I’ll say that again, “one of the best actors of our time.”

If you see any or all of these six movies you are going to be happy that you did. If you are anything like me, who is not like anyone else, you’re going to think all of these movies were made for you. These movies were made for people who need another world to slip into that isn’t as frightening as the one in which we live and even when it is; like in Zathura and Time Bandits, its okay. You’re got more power in these movies than you have in your life.

The bad guys are on top at the moment. Serial killers are the pinup models and child sex is the new chocolate. Greed is good. Torture is good. Manners are out and rude is hot. Superficiality is the new deep. Up is down and shit tastes like marmalade if you remember to add oranges. The future index is a raised middle finger and you can bet a lot more puppies are going to be flying off of cliffs. That’s how it works. But you can still curl up on a couch with someone you love and watch a good movie and you won’t go wrong watching any of these. Enjoy.

Visible and The Critical List: ♫ Surfer Joe ♫
'Surfer Joe' is track no. 6 of 12 on Visible and The Critical List's 1992 album
'Not Politically Correct'
About this song (pops up)