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WhoWillSurvive2012

2009-09-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

The 2012 trailer is out. It's title cards shout dramatically, "Mankind's earliest civilization warned us, this day will come. The end is just the beginning. This November, find out the truth." OK, then, so Sony's Columbia Pictures is releasing the next big disaster movie in November "2012" by Roland Emmerich, who gave us "Independence Day" and "The Day after Tomorrow." starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Gover. It looks like a great thrill ride of movie is coming our way. I, for one, can't wait to plunk down the money to see it in IMAX. If you haven't already done so, check out the movie website. At the risk of being a spoiler, no matter how good the mega-disaster is portrayed, the real world will not end that day, the sun will come up the next, and we'll go on.

Those of us old enough, remember the celebration of the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the excitement of the Harmonic Convergence, and then the tragedy sparked by the passing of the Comet Kohoutek. David Berg's cult The Children of God committed mass suicide believing they would taken away to the cosmos by aliens hiding behind the comet. And then, let us not forget the hysteria of of Jan 1, 2000, even though the new millenium did not begin until Jan 1, 2001, sorry if you haven't got that straight yet.
Now, we have the rising wave of fascination with another date, December 21, 2012, filling some with dread, some with hope, some with disdain, and some with derision.
If you want a clear explanation of how the Mayan calendar works, a modern day Mayan named Chino has posted a good one on YouTube. The Mayan long calendar cycle began 5,125 years ago and finishes its count finishing on the date December 21, 2012.
The new movie 2012 is capitalizing on the dread that the Mayan's calendar prophesies the end of the world, or at least the end of the world as we have known it. As entertaining as the movie is, and all the other stuff we will engulfed with over the next two years, it's really the laziest, least interesting view of that date, beaten only by the opinion that it means nothing at all. After all, the idea of an impending apocalypse nearly upon us, is not unusual among the religions of the world. The one thing about that date we can predict with absolute accuracy is that 2012 mania will explode, both on the news of that day and the days leading up to it. A lot of cataclysmic acts will be explainable as simple, self-fulfilling prophecy.

Far more interesting are the concepts that the end of these days, is the beginning of next era, as explained by the Hindu and Tibetan calendars. These view the end of an era as a transformative experience that ushers in a new age of enlightenment and harmony, although the transformation itself may be a rough ride. Unfortunately, most pop culture creators are going for the spectacular, but dumbing down story lines.

Fortunately there are those writers and filmmakers who see the opportunity to go for the high bar of quality entertainment with concepts that inspire and fire up our imaginations, to give us a glimpse of a future where human beings become their better selves.

Let's face it, the world is changing, faster and faster, and if we don't think about what is actually coming our way, we won't be ready to deal with it with common sense.

Of all the coming books and movies of the near future presented by December 21st of 2012, the best example is "Drones, Clones and Pheromones". In the film, the next era of humanity begins with the first child born after the end of the Mayan calendar. He is in fact the first of our descendent species, known to predictive biologists as homoperfectus.

I call this story "the best" because it is a magnificent story exploring in human terms the consequences of our taking evolution into our own hands. Human decisions will shape our descendants, rather than mere chance. The story is told with breath-taking action and effects. The science is up to date, and the science fiction is plausible. It poses questions about the consequences of our science, that we'd damn well better be thinking about now, before it's too late. Its characters and their love and hate relationships are engrossing and multi-dimensional. It is humanity here and today and tomorrow.

"Drones, Clones and Pheromones" is soon going into production, destined to be the definitive 2012 story. In the meantime, have fun watching the Columbia Pictures version of mass destruction and mayhem.

State of Hate

2008-08-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

As a child raised in a nice, small-town church, I was taught that personal redemption and loving one's neighbor was the good news to be spread throughout all the world. As I grew up, I realized that many church leaders were the worst violators of that Christian agenda. I saw the teaching of hatred, moral leaders caught up in vice, church-led persecutions of undesirables, superstitions leading to the deaths of innocent men and women, and torture in name of God, until it became clear that the spirit of Satan had overtaken these institutions. In my crisis of faith, I decided no one had anything to teach me unless their wisdom and compassion exceeded my own. I came to see that what people believe God to be is actually a mirror of their own heart and soul.

I have since arrived at a place of personal peace in finding a spiritual path that unquestionably offers me teachings to enhance my compassion and wisdom. I have no problem with Christians who keep to the good news of personal redemption and loving one's neighbors. The problem is the Christian crazies who act out their self righteous hatred on others. These bible thumping fundies even hate and mock denominations that actually live up to Christian ideals, such as Quakers (Society of Friends), welcoming congregations and the Unitarians If fundies simply practiced their sins in the privacy of their own churches, no problem, the maddening thing is that they relentlessly shove their hatred down the throats of their neighbors and try to sway governments to join in and make laws respecting their unChristian brutality.

When AIDS first appeared, largely among gay men, Christian haters preached God's vengeance, while other Christians organized to help the afflicted. This is the modern version of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It became clear very quickly who were the compassionate children of God, and who were the angels of darkness posing as angels of light. By their fruit we came to know who is who. Now they're at it again. They are fighting to deny same gender couples the sacrament of marriage, using gross distortions of Bible quotations, and logic twisted beyond repair. The glaring omission from their rants is Christian compassion. Christian groups who fight against equality for all Americans are constantly at work spewing their evil and trying to deceive the very elect of God. As with the AIDS crisis, when some churches acted with compassion while others postured and spread hatred, so today some churches recognize that to bless the union of any two people who wish to commit their lives to one another is the Christian thing to do.

The California Supreme Court rightly ruled in favor of same gender marriage. Our constitution begins with a fundamental principle that the law must be applied equally to all citizens, and in the absence of a compelling common good exception, no one nor group may be denied the benefits of the law. It's a curious paradox that if we accept the fundies contention that marriage is a religious institution then it ought not be part of our state law. Any and all California citizens must ally themselves with pro-marriage forces, and work to stop the constitutional amendment to deny marriage to a whole group of families, many of whom are raising normal, healthy children.

HATE GROUPS: These are the primary hate groups under the Christian banner. We hope that other Christians see the evil in their agendas and shun them and speak out against them.

Westboro Baptist Church - You may object to listing Fred Phelps first as he is clearly the ugliest example of Christian hatred, but it's in keeping with the tradition of fundamentalist church leaders using the most extreme examples of gay people as proof of their hateful rhetoric. Anyone who buys into this group's message of God's hatred, may as well go all the way and attend Satanic worship services.

Focus on the Family - James Dobson has created a TV personality of himself as an expert on what's good for families, while working to destroy families that don't conform to his narrowly defined family group. He makes no pretense of his vicious intolerance, indeed, he calls the assertion of equal rights and the support of gay families in California and Massachusetts "lunacy". It's fascinating in a perverse way to see his tortured twisting of both scripture and facts. The end result of his work is to vilify loving parents, intensify intolerance in schools for young gays and children of gay parents, and the ripping apart of loving families. Perhaps he should rename his group, Crosshairs on the Famiy.

The Catholic Church should know better, as the Catholic church at one time in its history performed same sex union ceremonies. The literature still exists, and those who say it did not are either uninformed, misinformed, or outright liars. The plus side is that Catholic Charities is a shining example of Christian compassion in practice. Moreover, there are compassionate dissenters who work to change the situation from within.

Family Research Council - Tony Perkins is behind the group whose statement on homosexuality asserts without any logical justification or appeal to actual social or medical science data the following: "Family Research Council believes that homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed. It is by definition unnatural, and as such is associated with negative physical and psychological health effects. While the origins of same-sex attractions may be complex, there is no convincing evidence that a homosexual identity is ever something genetic or inborn." This is a fine example of the fundamental principle of propaganda that if you repeat a lie often enough, no matter how outrageous, it will come to be believed. Curiously, their own statement on the structure of family, "The family should be respected as a largely autonomous sphere of self-government, not as something inferior to the civil government."

Traditional Values Coalition - Lou Sheldon has made a career of injuring gay people every chance he gets. One wonders what goes on in the mind of a man who spends all of his time obsessed with the sexual practices of strangers. His nightmares must be bizarre beyond imagination. His work has been to deny gay people rights in housing, jobs, family creation, and personal freedom. The times I've heard his hysterical, distressed voice, made my skin crawl, a normal response to anything creepy. The problem with "traditional values" is the lack of evaluation of their rightness. Our value should be based on kindness, fairness and equality, instead of outdated morality based on prejudice, ignorance and inhumane intentions.

R.J. RushdoonyChristian Reconstructionists - is the most prominent of the hateful billy-club Bible buffoons who think only a brutal, homicidal religion is approved by God. Like so many other Christian destructionists, they project their own bias and evil onto others, and seek to punish them as a way of expiating their own well deserved guilt. Here is a clear example of "wolves in sheep's clothing."

There are an enormous number of anti-gay groups, far too numerous to list here. Writing about them at all is a nauseating experience, but we've go to keep an eye on hate groups so we are ready to cope effectively with their terrible agendas. There are also other groups such as "Religious Right Watch" who help compile information on the haters.

A Man on a Mission

2008-04-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

This is a reprint of a column I was invited to write for Sparks which was also published in the San Francisco Bay Times.

A Man On A Mission
Published: February 14, 2008

By Wayne Schotten

Who hasn’t experienced the letdown after obtaining a hard-won goal and asked, “What do I do now?” We are powerful creatures when we have a clearly defined mission, but become complacent and distracted when we have achieved some part of our objectives. That is not entirely bad, of course, since we do have a right to enjoy the benefits of our victories. Otherwise, why bother to fight battles in the first place? The purpose of life is to live and enjoy our lives. That said, we can’t help but realize there is so much yet to be done. How do we refocus?

My personal history approximates the history of gay liberation. I was a child during the Eisenhower era, and I vaguely remember the newspaper pictures of White House demonstrations by business suited men and women, members of the Mattachine society, named for the Italian theater Mattachino jester, who would speak the truth to the king when no one else would. As a teen in small town Ohio, I thought I was the only boy in the world attracted to males, until Life magazine published pictures and stories of large groups of gay men hanging out together in Greenwich Village and Hollywood. Zap!!!

I came out in Cincinnati at a time when the novelty there was a downtown restaurant that was a gay hot spot at night. The waitresses loved us and helped us meet the new guys who walked in.

When I moved to Hollywood, while exploring my new sexual freedom with a series of lovers, I joined demonstrations supporting Willie Brown’s campaign to dump the sodomy laws in California. During my years in a serious relationship with the one man I should not have let slip away, I took part in protests at the LA coroner’s hearing over the cops beating a gay man to death and trying to sweep it under the rug. I walked with the first gay civil rights demonstration down Hollywood Boulevard in which skinny boys joined old queens in singing, “I’m not afraid anymore”.

Though only mildly religious at the time, I helped the fledgling Metropolitan Community Church, led by Troy Perry, when it was meeting at the Encore Theater in Hollywood. With the emergence of the counter culture and its acceptance of gays and lesbians, I found I could be an openly gay cinematographer on movie sets whose producers thought counter culture equated to artistic ability.

I moved to San Francisco and became involved in fighting the draconian Brigg’s initiative that would have banned gays from teaching in California. I worked with the group starting the gay center in Berkeley. The rise of Harvey Milk and the gay community in the Castro was a heady, wonderful example of a good life for gay people.

When AIDS appeared, my personal physician, Dr. Richard Hamilton, invited me and my best friend Mike Kurtz, who later died of AIDS, to help prepare the audiovisual materials for the world’s first medical profession gathering at Pacific Medical Center to address the emerging epidemic. To this day I am repelled and appalled by the response of the Reagan-appointed CDC officials who attended. I quote, “Gentlemen, don’t you think you’re being overdramatic?”

Every one of those actions had a clear and immediate threat to our safety and freedom. Times are different now, and I am not even sure what obstacles or what necessities younger gays are facing now. My sense is that our fight for equality today lacks the intensity engendered by an immediate threat to our well-being. It’s possible we may have a huge battle thrust upon us, if the right wing wackos succeed in mounting a significant move to amend the US Constitution to deprive us of first class citizenship.

Our future is a mission with three paths - mutual support and protection, sharing our gifts with others, and empowering ourselves. Take time to volunteer and be involved in our community and the larger community in which we all live. Give yourself to concerted action for which you feel fire in your belly, whether it’s marriage equality or the SPCA. Above all, define the change in the world that would compel you to engage upon a mission, then devote yourself to making it happen.

If you ponder what a mission is, you’ll come to see the value of having your own personal mission. Then enjoy the good feelings that come from it. Joseph Campbell was fond of saying, “If you follow your bliss, doors will open you didn’t even know existed.” That is so true, my friend, so true.

Wayne Schotten was born in Youngstown, OH in 1944. He is currently developing a science fiction theatrical film featuring action, real science and a beautiful love story between the two leading young men. He can be reached at wayne@wildstrawberryfilms.com.

Open Letter to Presidential Candidates

2008-03-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

To:
Barack Obama
Hillary Rodham Clinton
John McCain

This is the voice of an American citizen.

Electing a President of the United States is much more than selecting an individual to fill the office. It is a statement by the American people on the the kind of government we want. How that statement is crafted is highly dependent on the kind of campaign that candidates wage. My vote goes to the one who poses the right questions about the right issues.

Currently our country is a mess brought about the demise of real democratic control of the government. The will of the majority has been usurped by the few, which is an oligarchy, which by definition serves only its own agenda. We have allowed our government to invade another country which had not attacked us. We have allowed the mastermind of the greatest attack ever on American to roam free instead facing the American judicial system. The economy is tanking from the cost of the war, the excessive borrowing of money from outside our country, and we have allowed American jobs to float away across the sea. Our national reputation in the global community is badly tarnished, and fascism has become part of daily American life. I never would have believed this country would be debating how much torture is acceptable and when, because in that discussion is the clear and present evidence this country has lost its core of ethics. Why Christians are not outraged, is beyond comprehension. Why Christians are not outraged that Christians are suffering the worst persecution of modern times in Iraq because of our actions there, can only be ignorance of cosmic proportions.

SO, CANDIDATES, LISTEN UP!

Democrats: Either Obama or Clinton will make an excellent President, and neither has character flaws except in the imagination of campaign managers and right wing extremist commentators. I want to hear from each of you how you will overcome the power of the Republican oligarchy, how you will stop and reverse the flow of American jobs overseas, and how you will secure the benefits of liberty to all Americans. Talk about McCain, talk about the war, talk about the economy. Compete in the market place of ideas, not in the gutter of personal sniping.

Republicans: Of all the candidates you have fielded this election, McCain is the least offensive, though far from ideal, especially in terms of the disastrous war mentality, the trashing of the economy and the shredding of the constitution. On the outside chance you might win the White House, start talking now, in paragraphs not sound bites, about correcting the mess you've inherited. We have a huge and growing national debt. Debts only go away by paying for them, and the government has only one source of real income, so pretending that tax cuts will make things better is capital D Dumb. Attacking spending programs for what they sound like, instead of what they do, does not constitute financial discipline. If you get elected by the notion of continuing the war in Iraq, denying equal rights to all Americans, and refusing to pay our debts, then you're going to be saddled with those policies which can only drive our country further along the road to our ultimate bankruptcy of our economy and our morals.

Thank you,
Wayne Schotten

MySpace Sex Spam and Cop Phishing

2007-07-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

This is a message I sent to MySpace.

I've only been on MySpace a few months so I'm still discovering what it is. Because of my varied interests, I get add requests from total strangers. That's terrific. I've also sought friends with interests of mine, and now enjoy the dialogue with them.

My problem is offensive content in the friend requests.

I waste time sometimes going to their page to see if they're legit or another scam to get me to go to some porno site. I'm no prude, but I demand the right to choose when to turn my attention to sexuality.

I always report these as spam because I don't like to be expecting to meet a new friend but get a sex ad slammed in my face instead.

I am sure you are doing your best to beat a problem that wastes a lot of bandwith.

So, please, MySpace, continue with our thanks.

above Abstract photograph "Making Love with Eyes Closed" by Mansel Davies (be sure to check out this beautiful gallery)

below - check out Photographer Elfie's 50 Years of Social Justice

The other kind of add request I hate are those that appear to be from underage young people. I am often approached because of my interests and that includes my actual daily life as well as my virtual life, and I'm happy to share what I know. The problem is that the add request may actually be a law enforcement officer hoping to catch a child predator. I don't know whether this has happened to me, but I suspect that I received a few. Yes, yes, yes we must protect children from predators, but must this be at the expense of my comfort and enjoyment in visiting the world through MySpace? I don't like that kind of crap, and I don't want to see or read that garbage regardless of who is actually sending it.

So what can be done?

First, law enforcement should be strongly encouraged to refine their search technique to seek out only those who are actual predators and leave the rest of us alone. Regardless of what the Patriot Act says, our Constitution forbids unwarranted searches. At the same time the constitution gives law enforcement every right to enforce our laws. There is deep wisdom in our constitutional legal system which was created to avoid the abuses and excesses of the countries from which we came.

Second, since your MySpace software is constantly evolving, please consider an additional message channel that provides a parental-like buffering so that I can avoid denying anyone's request who legitimately wants to share interests with me? Perhaps messages on this channel would include a notice and an agreement by the user that the messages be available for public viewing, thus watchdogs could spot illegal chat. Perhaps it could work so that not only could the young person make a request in safety, but when we get queried to approve a request it can be a referral to use this additional message system. I think this is a much better way to deal with this real problem, than offending and disturbing me.

What do you think?

Behind the Curtain at Eavesdropper

2007-07-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

Other Reviews:
"Karma Cafe" (movie)
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"A Mighty Heart" (movie)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)

It's a tale of two cities. The play "The Eavesdropper" opened a Northern California run in the Off Market Theater in San Francisco with an energetic and talented cast.

Meanwhile the original Hollywood production has been thrown into chaos with off stage dramas fueled by an outside influence, not by the actors or actresses themselves. Similar to the play's tagline "Always check behind the shower curtain" and illuminated by the Wizard of Oz "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.", the production has seen vicious personal attacks, assaults, bizarre behavior, rumors of sexual harassment, favoritism and firings. None of this appears to be the fault of the cast in any way.

These kids are working hard to have a legitimate career in their craft of acting, and they ought to be protected from toxic exposure. I hope the good guys all wake up and rid themselves of this malignancy, and get back on track with their legitimate aspirations. Meanwhile, many of the actors, like Dave Tolemy, have managed to rise to bloom like lotuses out of the swampy waters. However, the darkness that has swept over this company remains an elusive mystery to those of us on the outside.

Review of "A Mighty Heart"

2007-06-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

Other Reviews:
"Karma Cafe"(movie)
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)

The true story of Mariane Pearl, wife of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl beheaded by the Taliban on video for all to see, is a film I wanted to appreciate if not like if only to honor their lives. Sad to say, although this film is a dignified tribute to Daniel Pearl and the courage and equanimity of his wife, it was tiresome, confusing and surprisingly lacking in emotional impact. Perhaps it's existence is justified, as it is said at the closing, so that their son will know who his father was, and how his mother dealt with it.

When telling a story of which the outcome is already known, we need to learn something about the characters we didn't know and we need to be shown the dynamics that set up the conflict and the outcome. Might Heart does some of this but the fractured structure of flashbacks and parallel actions do not illuminate any of this. Daniel's disappearance should have been a descent into the mouth of evil, but there was barely a hint of danger. The filmmakers rightfully spared us the horror of Daniel's murder, but we saw nothing of his capture or captivity, nor anyone talking about it, to awaken our sympathy for him. I kept feeling like I should be feeling the pain of this woman, and I am one who does react emotionally to movies a lot. There's an ongoing business with the chart created by Mariane and updated throught the picture in trying to track down the kidnappers, but the filmmakers never give us an exposition of what it means, and how the pieces are fitting together that allows the Pakistani police to find their suspects and raid their homes.

Angelina Jolie performed Mariane's character with sensitivity and authenticity. Dan Futterman and the rest of the cast were up to their roles, so any disappointment with this film was not the fault of the actors. The Pakistani captain played by Irrfan Khan was especially good.

The one real sour note I felt was the implication that torture was a justifiable tool in the hands of the "good guys". I am disgusted beyond measure that this country has abandoned its moral high ground, and now we debate how much torture we can allow so that we do not fall below the morality of our worst enemies. This is no surprise when we consider how much we have turned away from American bravery and honor, and forgotten that warning by Ben Franklin. "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

I imagine the idea was to show the chaos of the Pakistani city of Kerachi, but the editing and narrative was worse than chaotic. The digital video imagery was so poor I got exhausted looking at it. In fact, the CNN news footage was cleaner looking than the stuff shot to tell the story. This should have been shot on film, at least Super 16mm so the imagery could have expression and feeling. Message to filmmakers, from studio to student, "Show me you respect me enough as your audience, to create your works on film. Show me you respect your work as a filmmaker enough to create your works on film. Otherwise, you get no respect from me, and you'll lose me from your audience!"

Other Reviews:
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)
"Karma Cafe"(movie)

Review of "Karma Cafe"

2007-06-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

Other Reviews:
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)
"A Mighty Heart" (movie)

The first movies were all short films, and although the feature film has become the mainstay of the theater, shorts have never lost their appeal. Recent proliferation of film classes and access to equipment has produced an overwhelming flood of short films. Of the thousands I have seen, only a few have stuck with me beyond the Warner cartoons of my childhood. "The Secret Cinema" by James Bartel in 1968, the 1932 Oscar winning "The Music Box" by Laurel and Hardy, the George Lucas USC student film, "THX 1138" or "A Sense of History" by James Broadbent in 1992 are a few that always come to mind. Now I happily add "Karma Cafe" by Eben Kostbar to the list. In spite of the tens of thousands of entries to film festivals, Eben's movie has been lighting a lot of film festival screens and garnering well deserved awards.

At the “Karma Café,” every cup tells a story.

A Coffee Shop cashier instills confidence in a lonely, young man seeking love. Are they the words of “The Wise” or simply acts of coincidence? Welcome to the “Karma Café!”AWARDS
Audience Choice – DC Shorts FF
Honorable Mention – Beverly Hills HD FF
Best Short – Flickering Image FF
Honorable Mention – Smogdance FF
Audience Choice – East Lansing Children’s FF
Audience Choice & Best Entertainment Value – Pumelo Independent FF (India)

FESTIVALS (partial list)
Newport Beach FF
Rhode Island Int FF
Indianapolis Int FF
Cleveland Int FF
Memphis Int FF
Bahamas Int FF

Eben Kostbar plays Dustin, a lonely young man
Craig James Pietrowiak plays another lonely young man
Paige Jarvie plays Amber plays an attractive young woman seemingly out of his reach
Shawn Patrick O'Donnell plays the coffee counter clerk

Eben describes himself this way, "I am an actor and recently also a filmmaker, living in Hollywood. I grew up in Maryland, love football especially the redskins and for college, USC Tojans and the Maryland Terps. I enjoy movies of all kinds and good times w/ friends."

A reading of Eben's film and tv credits reveals a talent searching for his most fulfilling means of expression, first as an actor then as writer, director, editor and producer. In making "Karma Cafe", he succeeded in bringing quality to all the elements of good cinematic story telling, when measured by traditional standards, but added his own light touch to make it all fresh again.

The story is well structured, the humor well developed, the heart feelings genuine, the film craft clean and crisp. Some well meaning reviewers have called it charming or inspirational. Sorry, I didn't find the film charming or inspirational, anymore than I found it sentimental and maudling, no, to call it charming or inspirational is to miss the mark on the good natured sincerity of this work. Even the word "sincere" can be misread sometimes as an earnest failure, but I mean it in the beautiful sense of its origin in Roman law that only a perfect, unblemished work of a silversmith could be inscribed "Sincerus" (meaning unwaxed from sine meaning without and cera meaning wax). "Karma Cafe" is entitled to be enscribed "Sincerus".

Eben has recently partnered with another talented actor Joseph McKelheer to form Quality Time Productions. They not only produce their own works, but can provide production services as well, check it out.

Unless you're lucky enough to see it at a film festival, "Karma Cafe" can be purchased ($14.99) through paypal now on the website http://www.karmacafethemovie.com (dvd includes special features: commentary and movie slideshow). You can also see a web movie version of it, but it's best when you can see full resolution and surrounded by other people. One way or the other, this one you must see!

Other Reviews:
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)
"A Mighty Heart" (movie)

Review of "Talk to Me"

2007-06-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

Other Reviews:
"Karma Cafe" (movie)
"A Mighty Heart" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)

Actress turned director Kasi Lemmons has blossomed into a fine filmmaker with her creation of the new Don Cheadle movie "Talk to Me" based on the true story of Petey Greene, a black ex-con turned Washington D.C. radio personality during the 1960's, a period of turmoil over the Viet Nam war and the civil rights movement. Greene's "tell it like it is" style woke a sleepy R&B radio station into a major voice for the disenfranchised black majority living in our nation's capital at a time when it seemed the country was falling apart.

Kasi has turned Michael Genet and Rick Famuyiwa's excellent screenplay into a well crafted film, proving once again that new directors and new writers are a fountainhead of creativity that breath fresh air into our favorite form of art and entertainment. There is a good balance between character exposition, historical setting, and plot structure. The film does not pander to black or white stereotypes. If you're looking for a militant's view of history, it's not there, nor should it be, it's about a man and his friendship with another, manager Dewey Hughes, and how that friendship empowered them both. Unlike other recent films of this genre, the whites are also just people struggling with the issue of racism, many of whom were also devastated by Martin Luther King's murder.

Don Cheadle as Petey is first rate, something we've come to expect since "Hotel Rawanda" and "Crash".

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Dewey turns in his best yet in a decade of good performances.

Martin Sheene as the radio station owner shines in a supporting role with complexity and depth combining the establishment, compassion and progressiveness.

Tarajii P. Henson as Greene's love-of-his-life performs a consistently entertaining vision of the woman who stood by him and fought for him throughout his journey from his prison life to his finding his ultimate freedom. This is one character who was a little short changed in depth by the writer and director. The impersonations of Johnny Carson and James Brown are clever and believable.

The cinematography by Stephane Fontaine and editing by Terilyn Shropshire are first rate. The period music is appropriate and when used as commentary is not over done. All in all the movie was a well spent evening and I'd recommend it to anyone not offended by strong language. The only weakness I felt in the film was, as so often true in recent times, was the climax and ending failed to move emotionally or offer a turn that leaves one thinking about it. Other than that, I say, "See it for sure."

Other Reviews:
"Karma Cafe" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
"A Mighty Heart" (movie)
Alexandros Kapelis (piano recital)

The Passion of the Creator

2007-06-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

The drive to create is the primary function of a healthy ego. I'm not referring to the pathological ego that distorts personalities, but the creative force that is so important that it is the name given to the god of the Judeo-Christian-Muslim beliefs as the creator of all existence. Our personal egos can drive us to write, paint, sculpt, build houses, form organizations, run for office, seek job promotion, build a family, invent, and above all make movies. This creative drive we call passion.

Investors, rightly so, want to know that the film makers are passionate about the project, that they are competent to make it, and have a clear plan of returning a profit to the investors. Again and again we hear homage paid to the role of passion as the primary and essential ingredient in an indie film project to get it noticed, funded and produced. Then a very odd thing happens when the discussion turns to what the investors are looking for before they fund a project. That discussion inevitably turns to handing the job of director to someone other than the film's creator.

Here's the problem. Far more often than not, indie's are the brain child of writer/directors, the film makers who only write their screenplays as the first step in making their film. There is no one in the entire world more passionate about getting the movie made, made well, and successful than the writer/director, indeed, it it is the creation and drive of that person who has gotten every one interested in the first place. Can it make common sense to tout the absolute importance of passion but then pluck out the one person who's passion is the primal cause? Let's rip the heart out of the project and see if we can make a film with what's left. No wonder the sad state of indie film making!

An example of ripping the heart out of a production: I used to love to read Marvel Comics series "Dr. Strange" , and was thrilled that it was going to be turned into a TV movie. I could not have been more disappointed. By chance, I met one of the artists who contributed to those comic books, and he described his role as "consultant" to the film project. One by one, every feature of Dr. Strange that made him interesting was taken out by the director Philip DeGuere who had been assigned to the production by Universal and CBS. The result was disastrous to say the least.

Of course competency is vital. But, the competency of the director should not be tied to a string a mediocre movies of moderate success. The writer/director has already proven creative competency or the producers wouldn't be interested in making the movie in the first place. No director performs in isolation. Regardless of experience, any director needs to be surrounded by producers, production personnel, cast and crew who each bring their talent and experience to the project, and see to it that the director's vision, as first committed to paper, gets realized to its best.

Historically, the "first time director" who actually got a film out there in the theaters has nearly always turned a profit on it, especially the writer/director, which is something you can prove to yourself with a little investigation on line withIMDB or Boxoffice Mojo. I spoke once with Danny Boyle, the director of "28 Days Later", "Trainspotting" and so on, and he contended that a director's first film is often his best and it goes down hill from there.

Maybe the quality and commercial success of indie films would explode, if we started recognizing that a film project brought into being by the passion of a writer/director should be made ONLY by the its creator with all the support necessary for that creator to succeed. Put your money with the fountain head from whom the passion springs.

Eyewitness to Film History in the Making

2007-05-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

When I first arrived in Hollywood from the Midwest, I had several experiences that are lifetime memories, such as Katherine Hepburn tossing me a wave from her convertible next to what is now the American Film Institute , or Cyril Delevanti reciting his poem from John Huston's "Knight of the Iguana", and seeing firsthand the launch of George Lucas's professional career.

The film departments of UCLA and Southern California University had an annual film competition for students from both schools at a time when they and New York University were about the only schools in the country offering a degree in cinema.

In 1967, I attended the showing at UCLA's Royce Hall, and George Lucas's THX 1138 was a standout work among many very good ones. Not only was it the audience's favorite, but the judges awarded it best picture. Lucas was called to the podium to accept his award. He seemed nervous and shy at the microphone, but then startled as he was interrupted at the microphone, apparently a surprise to all on stage, by a lawyer from Warner Brothers who announced that Warners was offering whoever won the competition the opportunity to turn it into a feature.

That was of course George. It seemed an eternity while he stood speechless, mouth open. Warners already had the young Francis Ford Coppola under contract, so they assigned him as producer to George. I then saw the resulting feature "THX 1138" in 1971 at a theater in Hollywood. It was not great commercial success, but the success of the George Lucas career is legendary.

The Three R's

2007-04-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

In an attempt at irony, I have often said "growing up" is the day the child realizes that no one else ever did.

The world is full of adults still driven by their childish motives and emotions. We have long expressed a child's formal learning needs as the three R's, reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic which includes a little joke about the need to add spelling to the 'riting part. The three R's of adulthood should be rights, responsibilities and repercussions. Too often, we think the right's are confirmed automatically when we reach legal age, and grudgingly accept a vague notion of responsibility, and then suppress any further thoughts about repercussions. So much of our social order would be improved, if we were to analyze situations giving equal attention to all three. In some areas, we already fully integrate this idea, such as our traffic laws, in which the right to drive is firmly tied to our obeying traffic laws, and failure to do so has repercussions if we get caught or worse cause injury.

For example: some parents claim the right to keep their children out of sex education, or diversity sensitivity programs. All they need to do is sign a form, and their kids are kept from being exposed to this sort of knowledge and social awareness, end of story. Is that nuts or what?

I can understand that these parents think they are protecting their children from influences that conflict with their religious beliefs, but who bears responsibility if one of their kids gets a venereal disease, or pregnant, or acts cruelly or violently towards a minority class mate? The claim of that right, has repercussions on their children, and maybe on other people's children, but what are the repercussions for the parent? Shouldn't the legal form signed by a parent include the parent's acceptance of full responsibility for any trouble their child gets into as a result, and shouldn't that carry with it civil and criminal consequences for the parent? As it is, the parent wants the right, but leaves the kid to suffer the consequences, when in fact they are guilty of child neglect, abuse and even endangerment.

Example: some talk show hosts claim "free speech" as a right when they are being broadcast in the employ of a broadcast license owner, which they think empowers them to say whatever they want without responsibility or repercussions for statements that would probably bring them a bloody nose or worse on the street. If I had to justify something I said by saying that it's no different from what hip-hop or rap artists say, then it's clear I've really messed up. How is that different from justifying my speech because I heard a character in a movie say it? Ludicrous! The Fox network has built an audience base by pandering to a malevolent streak that claims all sorts of rights to say or advocate extremist views, without any sense that the public forum has a responsibility to truth, fairness and circumspect analysis. They take a policy of bias and extreme partisanship and constantly blare out the words "fair and balanced." Tragically too many accept the hype as true. They take the phrase "suicide bomber" and change it to "homicide bomber" to advance a political idea that the perpetrator is a coward. I bet nobody at Fox has the guts to do the same if we were under occupation by a foreign power. A suicide bomber's intent is homicide and that phrase includes that concept. As a result of this nonsense at Fox, we are led to believe that the bomber did not die in the act, which means a cowardly act, but this is an out and out lie and distortion. We once had a fairness doctrine which protected free speech on licensed broadcast by insisting equal time be presented to opposing political views. Thank you Reaganites for this 1984ish change in our affairs of state. I know you want a one party system run by an elite oligarchy but there are lots of others of us who are not going to let us go there.

Example: a woman brings false charges of rape against three Duke LaCrosse players Reade Seligmann, Dave Evans and Collin Finnerty, and she is championed by Mike Nifong, a sociopathic prosecutor who can't stop grinning over the nightmare he brought upon these three innocent men. Now that all charges have been dismissed by the state's attorney general Roy Cooper, and he has taken the heroic step of declaring their innocence in a public press conference, we are left to ask who is responsible for the extreme harm to the lives of these men, families and friends.Women's rights groups, and African American rights groups exercised their right of free speech to mount major public demonstrations against the three. Where in all this did anyone take a moment to determine their responsibilities, and contemplate the repercussions should they happen to be wrong? These guys did everything right because they reacted to the charges in a responsible way, the prosecutor did everything wrong because he reacted irresponsibility, and the accuser is apparently simply looney and thus not responsible for anything. Nifong is the one who should have recognized crazed accusations and protected them from her. It is the height of lame back stepping to point out that they participated in a party where booze flowed and strippers were hired, and that one of them had a brush with the law over a different kind of assault. None of that justifies what happened to these guys, except in the eyes of the most hypocritical religious right.

Example: parents have used charges of child molestation in custody battles, and if the accused is the father, it can be very hard to refute this in court. The right to have your day in court, is supposed to carry the responsibility to speak truthfully and aid the discovery of justice, but the repercussion of penalty repercussion of a criminal perjury charge hardly seems sufficient to right the harm done to the wrongly accused. We all want to protect the children,
but we also must act responsibly to the accused, so the innocent do not have irreparable harm done to their reputation and peace of mind.

Proposed: if someone knowingly accuses another person falsely, that accuser should suffer the same penalty that would have befallen the accused.

Bobby Chase Follow Focus

2007-04-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

I've posted a new video of Bobby Chase playing October 31, 2006 for the Southern Methodist Mustangs vs. Alabama.

This video is "Bobby only" and we used Final Cut motion control to keep the image squarely on him.

Since he is a film and video major, we thought he'd appreciate the technique.

Click here to go to video

Click here to go to a webpage with his bio and many photos.

TREASON !!!

2007-04-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

"In the December 12 ruling by the US Supreme Court handing the election to George Bush, the Court committed the unpardonable sin of being a knowing surrogate for the Republican Party instead of being an impartial arbiter of the law." Vincent Bugliosi, "The Nation" Feb 5, 2001.

The destruction of American rule of law under the United States Constitution began in earnest with the Supreme Court decision to halt the vote count in Florida and consequentially to crown George W. Bush as President. Once in power, the Bush crime family along with their cronies and handlers, set about to subvert the constitution, gutting it of its power to regulate the federal government's intrusion into the affairs of its citizens. This unleashed an entirely unprecedented consolidation and abuse of power into an oligarchy with no national interest or benefit, instead the Bush cabal rearranged the federal government to a cabal of money and power players. It also gutted the constitution's separation of powers which led to the administration usurping power from any and all quarters, a process continuuing to this day as they have fired federal prosecutors who opposed their political agendae. However dishonest may have been George's ascent to the inaugaration platform should we not insist he hew to the oath he swore to become our president. Article II Section 1 "Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Growing up in the fifties, I remember there were conservative and liberal points of view in politics, but with whichever one felt more aligned, there was a mutual trust that the other shared the same mission to achieve the common good. We have seen in the five decades since, the conservative point of view being commandeered by those with selfish interests, twisting conservative philosophy into a pathetic pandering to wealth and power.

Of late, Karl Rove has achieved great success in duping Christian activists into an even more demonic expression of power corrupted beyond any hope of redemption. God must be disgusted by his loudest believers, and surely Jesus weeps for the darkness and hatred of those who call him Lord. Happy Easter, right? If Jesus came back this very day, he'd be pissed at Christians for not acting like Christians.

As outrageous as the White House staff misbehaved, it does not meet the constitutional definition of treason. Article III Section 3. "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court." {At this point, the White House may wish to change its policy towards the constitution and try to preserve it instead, since it may be their last legal resort against the death penalty for all of them.}

There are those who will get their panties in a bunch about "liberal bloggers", so what? No matter how many knuckleheads spew neo con propaganda, they're still knuckleheads who don't have the slightest clue about the damage they are doing to our planet and its people. The liberals they believe in, don't exist. What does exist is people who care how we live, how we treat the weakest and poorest among us, and the legacy we leave our children and their descendents.

Review of Alexandros Kapelis's Piano Recital

2007-03-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Other Reviews:
"Karma Cafe" (movie)
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
"A Mighty Heart" (movie)

The beautiful and nearly acoustically perfect Herbst Theater in San Francisco was the venue for the Bay Area piano recital debut of Alexandros Kapelis.

He is on a world tour sponsored by the Greek government presenting classical music inspired by Greek mythology. Upcoming performances are with the New York Philharmonic, Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater and recitals in Chicago and Montreal, and then on to Europe.

His artistry is mature, passionate and skillful, but he also betrays a delightful playfulness such as his interpretation of "For a Little White Seashell" by M. Hadzikakis. He proved he has mastered Debussy, Rameau, Kostantinidis and Clementi as well, and finished the recital with a virtuoso performance of "Etudes-Tableaux" by Rachmaninoff, which is not an easy task.

Bravo, Alexandros!

Other Reviews:
"Karma Cafe" (movie)
"Talk to Me" (movie)
"Eavesdropper" (play)
"A Mighty Heart" (movie)

Which Species Will Be Homoperfectus

2007-03-09T21:30:00.000-08:00

We Homosapiens evolved to have the ability to manipulate our environment and change it to suit us. The life forms of earth are intertwined and interdependent in a biosphere that is fueled by sunlight and feeds on itself except for a few very primitive forms of life that can find nutrients in inorganic sources like soil and rock. If Gaia as the entity of life on Earth is a valid allegory for the Earth's biosphere, then it may be reasonable to explain our emergence as Gaia's attempt to cope with future life threatening disasters such as asteroids. Never was there another species able to anticipate a giant rock from the sky, and actually contemplate what might be done to avert its damage.

Now, we have turned our minds to the very nature of what we are right down to the very genetic code that gives rise to every aspect of our forms. Even before we get to cloning humans, we are already at work affecting the evolution of our descendents. We are dramatically shortening the process of species evolution within ourselves and we may be surprised how quickly our descendents become another species beyond Homosapiens. Although this is inevitable, it's not too late to ponder and plan what is best. There is wisdom in our current DNA. It has been winnowed through natural selection over eons and a multitude of bad mutations did not survive attrition. As we tinker with our species we dare not lose the original Homosapiens gene pool.

Homoperfectus is the presumed descendent from Homosapiens, but which species will be Homoperfectus? As different individuals and groups make decisions about what their offspring will be, people will make choices for a multitude of reasons, some of it scientific, humane and rational, but there's bound to be those whose culture or religious mind sets lead to human traits you or I might find wierd or objectionable. As we steer the descent of the our genetic line, it is inevitable that differences in objectives will begin to appear, and in time the Earth will be populated simultaneously by multiple species who branched off from homosapiens.

Some species may be developed for climate comfort. Since higher forms of animals can live practically anywhere on Earth, we may have human species adaptations such catlike pelts, or a functioning appendix for digesting simple vegetation, larger lungs for living at high altitudes, and I am not the first to suggest gills for breathing underwater. However, actual species that descend from us, may not be so dramatically different, yet different enough to be considered different species.

Philosophically you have to ask what is it about us that makes us human? We are "The Naked Ape". If you haven't read the Desmond Morris book, I highly recommend it. If our descendants are neither naked nor apes, could other traits still make them human? On the other hand, maybe human means the sum of what we are exactly as we are now?

What role will religion and culture play in shaping new human species? Might not some cultures seek to turn off the brain receptors that respond to euphoric drugs, which probably means they will also lose their natural body chemistry which wards off pain and depression. Other cultures might actually do the "Brave New World" thing of creating a worker species with little aspiration in life beyond doing their job and pleasing their masters. Other cultures might remove the pleasures of sexuality. Now there's an ugly thought, and there's enough Puritan mental illness remnant in our culture that that is a possibility.

My choice for homoperfectus is that species which looks pretty much the way we do, but beauty is more common place and physical defects nonexistent. Their bodies will be naturally athletic with a powerful immune system, and they will have a more complex neural system with enhanced senses. Homoperfectus will be talented and affable, clever and compassionate. Most likely sex will be better too. Isn't that what you would choose? Most of all, Homoperfectus will inherit that human spirit which drives us to constantly reach beyond survival to meaningful existence.

As we develop the role of our lead character Felix in "Drones, Clones and Pheromones" we keep reconsidering how much he should be like us and how much is enhanced. Felix has genes implanted in his DNA from both other animals and plants to restore traits that Homosapiens lost along the way from our ancestors. Our eyesight for instance is tri-color with our retinal cones dyed to filter bands of red, green and blue colors. Our ancestors had four, with the blue being divided into two bands that extended into ultraviolet. Birds still have this 4 color eyesight. More recent ancestors lost the two blue to ultraviolet senses, then even more recently we regained a single blue with no ultraviolet sensitivity. That is where we are now. It would not be a big stretch to restore ultraviolet sight in our Homoperfectus species. This could have significant survival value, and would lend visual artists a huge new pallete of colors. We can only sense about 500 pheromones, but with the restoral of the vomeronasal organ of lesser mammals, we could again recognize 1,500. The grand prize perhaps of the Homoperfectus species will be turning off the aging process once they reach maturity. Guess what? We already know how!

Director's Statement

2007-03-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

As the producer of Wild Strawberry Films, futuristic "The Supremacy Project"I've had tons of inquiries about our film "Drones, Clones and Pheromones", the first film of the trilogy , much of it trying to ferret out what is my motive and my objectives in producing this film. First, and foremost, it's a story I find so compelling, that I cannot think of doing anything else until this gets finished. In fact, I've set about making the movie I want to see more than any other imaginable film.

"The Supremacy Project" is the story of the demise of homosapiens civilization brought on by ourselves as we collapse into partisanship politics, extreme nationalism, and xenophobia in a sick and sickening biosphere, but with the promise that our bioscience will bring forth our descendents, our superiors, homoperfectus. "Drones, Clones, and Pheromones" is the story of the first child of the new species with extraordinary mental abilities, athleticism, and biophysical and biochemical enhancements that give him mastery and power that may save us, if he can find his own humanity and ethos.

So, in the interest of sharing my passion with you, I'm publishing here the Director's Statement page of our business plan.

DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS:

“We are fast approaching the time when we take evolution into our hands, and change forever, not only our world, but ourselves. It is inevitable that one day there will be human clones among us whether we like it or not. The sequencing of the human genome, plus the biotechnology of gene splicing, plus the cloning of human beings, equals the greatest revolution in human affairs ever. How we treat these newcomers has everything to do with how they will ultimately treat us. Homosapien history is ending, and the saga of homoperfectus is about to begin.”

“Like sending one’s child to the best school, what parent could say no to choosing their children to be smarter, more talented, more healthy or athletic , and of course more beautiful than we? Unlike other films that have dealt with cloning, we are telling the story from the point of view of the clones themselves.”

Motion pictures“ have become the most powerful and fascinating kind of story telling ever invented by mankind. Listening to someone tell us a story, draws us into their mind. Reading a novel causes their voices to be heard in our own minds. Watching TV draws us only into packaged entertainment in a box. But watching a movie on a large screen surrounded by an audience in a theater, takes us into another world where we experience another life as if it were real.”

This film tells a well-researched, excellent story with a humane point of view.”

The prospect of cloning humans“ has plunged us into new realms of ethical and moral debate of parental responsibilities, kinship, and inheritance. The big question is how it will challenge our sense personal identity. How would we see ourselves if we knew our genetic makeup was not unique, in fact identical to many other people, and that someone decided we should exist and what we shall be? “

“I can honestly say that this story is so compelling that I cannot let go until it is on the movie screens of the world. I find new and wonderful things every time I look at the world created by this story, as when one looks closer and closer at a curve in fractal geometry and discovers there is infinite detail...always more to see no matter how closely one looks at it.”

New Bobby Chase Video

2007-03-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

If you've visited here before, you know I'm a friend, fan and supporter of Southern Methodist University senior wide receiver and prime NFL candidate Bobby Chase. I've posted a video of Bobby teaching young kids some of his patented skills shot before the April Spring Game of 2006. I've also found a terrific web page you should visit if you like lots of photos of Bobby.

When you know someone this nice, and they're talented as can be, you've got to wish them the very best, and I do!

Fundamental Conundrum of Indie Film Making

2007-03-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, so you got a great story to tell, and it's been turned into a great script properly copyrighted with the Library of Congress and registered with the Writer's Guild of America. You got talented people ready to jump in and help you make it. You've hired an entertainment lawyer, hired a business plan writer, formed a limited liability corporation, and set in motion every device you can think of to get people interested in your project. You've carefully thought through the dream cast, devised novel production strategies, worked out a realistic budget, and spend every moment of every day in a quest to have every detail as close to ready as you can possible make it. And then you come up against the same wall, every independent film maker must confront, which is persuading investors to trust you with their money while knowing that all you created, all of your plans, and all you have done still amounts to an extremely high risk investment. Unless your film is a niche market like horror or zombies, then the only tool you have to improve your chances a making money with your film is to show international distributors that you have someone in your cast they can sell to their audiences, that is to say a bankable actor's name. If you are one of those unfortunate people without a generous rich uncle or not an heir to the Getty, Rockefeller, Hilton, or Hormel fortune, then this brings you to the fundamental conundrum of independent film producing. The investors want to see who in the cast is bankable, and the actors want to see that you have the money in place to pay them their salary.

The unlocking of this puzzle is the entry through the pearly gates of filmmakers' heaven. Although, there have been scams around film funding, most people who have bothered to get all of the above pieces in place, are not scam artists, but simply artists or business people with strong resolves to make their films. There has been interest lately to connect filmmakers with more traditional investment institutions or clubs but with few exceptions, these traditional sources of entrepreneurial funds finds the film investment out of their bounds of risk taking. When an indie is funded, more often than not, it's because the filmmakers got a name talent interested enough in the film to put their name on it. Actors' agents work on commissions, and so like to have their clients assured of getting paid as much as possible. Actors out of necessity create an isolation bubble that closes off direct contact even though it costs them not being exposed to films they might actually like to do. But it does happen, either because the filmmakers have achieved some sort of notoriety or else a personal friend common to both the filmmaker and the actor introduces them to each other.

Occasionally, a story is so compelling for it's social importance that a philanthropist will fund it. Our "Drones, Clones and Pheromones" segment of "The Supremacy Project" is an early warning of the cultural implosion being brought on by amazing research into the fundamentals of life and reproduction. Humanity is already pulling evolution out of the domain of the natural selection of random mutations, and taking it in our hands to devise what future life form will be. Nothing before has been so profound a change, and equally profound is the magnitude of both benefits and disasters. Knowledge and technology have long ago outstripped our ability to anticipate their consequences socially, legally and ethically. Our lead character is best described as homoperfectus, the new species that descends from man and inherits the Earth from homosapiens. The love he shares with a regular human, may be the first cross species romance, since the extinction of the Neanderthals. It makes me wonder whether James Hormel or George Soros or Steve Jobs or Larry Page and Sergey Brin founders of Google would see the immense human value in a film that provoked thought about these and other issues facing humankind.

Returning to casting: There are cameo roles that can be shot in one day. I'd love to have Elizabeth Taylor play an Auntie to our homoperfectus boy Felix, sharing her wisdom with him from a wheel chair while potting orchids. I'd love to have Leonard Nimoy play the Ancient One who intrudes on Felix to both give him guidance, and find out for sure what he really is. I'd love to have San Francisco's mayor Gavin Newsom, play the liberal US Senator trying to bring fairness to Congressional treatment of human clones. There are a number of other roles, for whom I would seek to cast actors such as Mark Wahlberg, Amber Tamblyn and her father Russ, Catherine-Zeta Jones or Brad Pitts. The only actor I've seen yet who comes close to playing Felix is Justin Long, seen in the "I'm a Mac" TV ads, or the movies "Accepted", "Dodgeball", and "Jeepers Creepers". This listing is a mere sample of a much longer list.

There then is the question,
"Who do we know, who knows any of them?"

You Are a US Government Lab Rat

2007-02-28T22:18:00.000-08:00

We Americans have never been in such monstrous danger before. Q: Alarming? A:Yes. Q:I am being an alarmist? A:Not nearly enough.

War and Terrorism - Before 911, in the early days of the Bush presidency, it's now well documented that Cheney and his cronies were seeking a reason to invade Iraq. Before 911, the Bush administration failed to heed the clearly titled document provided him by the Clinton administration that Bin Laden was planning to use commercial aircraft as guided missles into American buildings. Before Bush was president the Congress ignored the same warning in the Senate report by Senator Daschle because the Republicans were too busy scurrying around looking at stains on a blue dress. After 911, the Bush presidency already had in hand a homeland security bill many hundreds of pages long, so within two weeks of the attack, Congress was ready to vote away the freedoms we Americans had come to take for granted. After 911, the Bush administration created hysteria that the next big threat to us was Iraq by mounting a campaign of outright filthy lies and squelching any dissenting voices such as the CIA agents who claimed they'd been ordered to alter their intelligence reports to fit the Bush agenda. After the invasion, we established a civil war in Iraq whether by blundering incompetence or by sinister design. Now we have thousands of Americans dead, tens of thousands of Iraqi's, and the wounded number in the hundreds of thousands. For the first time in our history, we waged war against a country that had not attacked or even threatened us. For the first time in our history we are the prime terrorists creating a wave of 2 million refugees from Iraq. It's our fault, whether we aided it, or merely accepted it. This is easily America's most shameful actions by our most shameless dynasty. Are we safer now from terrorists? Hell no! We've made it far worse for ourselves and the rest of world by creating a breeding ground of anger and hate in the Middle East. Perhaps the worst part of all this that we'll never be free of it now. That part of the world is home to strife stretching back thousands of years, and these are people who are never defeated. When they lose, they always come back for revenge. Now Bush has included the US in that perpetual state of war. Even Cheney admitted that was so.

Global warning - Yes, it's real. The only controversy is generated by factions in our government and within the corporate world who place immediate greed ahead of the long term welfare of our descendents. You'd think they didn't have families of their own with grandchildren who will have to suffer the consequences of their insane short sightedness. Every major industrialized country is taking this very seriously and putting into place mechanisms to stem the flow of tons of carbon into our atmosphere, with one notable exception, the US. This seems all the more outrageous when one considers the fact that we receive 5,000 times more energy from the sun than we currently need. The beauty of solar energy and it's derivatives such as wind power is that the Earth is no warmer after we use the energy than it would be if we didn't. Imagine if the State of California put out to bid a contract to cover every roof in the state and every sound wall along the freewayswith solar electrical panels, we'd see the price the panels plunge as companies fought for the low bid and used their ingenuity to make it work. Imagine if other states did the same. What about the oil companies? Who says the only use for oil is burning it? We're talking about a resource of immensely complex hydrocarbons that are useful for a mind boggling array of uses as material, rather than fuel. What about the coal companies? Who says we must burn it? Imagine turning all that raw carbon into carbon fibers, bucky balls and fullerenes to create an inexhaustible source of building materials.

Bio Tests on Citizens - You would lie awake at night in a cold sweat if you looked at our government experiments on its citizens in the past, and then realize that history isn't over. You can bet your shorts, they're still at it. We now know about the experiments at Tuskugee University deceiving black men infected with syphyllis that they were receiving treatment, when in fact they were not, so that the progress of the disease could be observed unchecked over a long period of time. During the cold war, our CIA gave LSD to unsuspecting people to learn how to use it to manipulate, brainwash, and derive information from their investigation targets. Some of those led directly to innocent people going mad and committing suicide. In a way, Timothy Leary saved a generation by getting young people to experiment with it, and to know it, so it could not be used against them. The FDA has been approving alterations to our food supplies in one of the most massive experiments ever made upon a population, using such techniques as bovine growth hormone in milk, genetic alterations to basic foodstuffs such as our grains, and approving a plethora of mind altering drugs to pacify everyone's emotions and turn them into drones willing to accept the ripping asunder of American traditions, and shredding the constitution. The latest leak on government messing with our minds is a synthetic pheromone known on the street as F-9, terribly addictive through its direct effect upon our most intimate emotions of sexuality.

So go to bed tonight and try not to have nightmares, since as our fat headed political commentators like to say, you're living in the best country on Earth. Remember the Beatle's song, "...and I will sing a lullaby, Boy!, you're going to carry that weight a long time."

The Power of the Kiss

2007-02-25T21:24:00.000-08:00

Touch is our most primal sense, a part of our body contacts something else, often someone else, and we experience texture, temperature, moisture and pressure resulting in feelings of pleasure or pain and many other feelings in between. Practically every living thing shares the sense of touch to some form or degree. Although the sense of touch permeates the body, most of our awareness of it is in our skin. What part of our skin is doing the touching, and what it touches creates a huge range of emotional responses. Keeping in mind these physiological axioms, kissing deserves special contemplation, especially if we stipulate setting aside the simple tokens of respect or affection, and confine our considerations to the intimate kiss of one person's lips with another's.

Our sense of sight, hearing, smell, and balance center our awareness of our mind's inside our heads. Our lips are the one part of our head that can reach out in order to touch, and so join with these other senses. When our lips touch the lips of another person, a sensory mirror occurs in which both people experience the other's awareness. We also are deep inside the other person's comfort zone, where we can see, hear and smell every little detail about them and inhale their pheromones in their full intensity, and they in turn every little detail about us. If both people surrender to the experience, their two minds flow into each other and it becomes a single experience shared by both. This is the essential experience of a romantic kiss.

When a woman and a man kiss, the dynamic of it is the union of opposites. Whatever one lacks, the other brings.

When both are the same gender, the dynamic of it is the joining of forces. What each has is added to the same in the other.

Men who prefer women usually have difficulty surrendering to the experience of kissing another man, and strongly react negatively to merely seeing other men kissing each other. On the other hand, women who prefer men, can more easily surrender to the experience of kissing another woman, and can react positively to seeing men kissing each other.

Why is this so? It's too simplistic to toss judgements around like it's a male pride thing, or women are naturally more sensual, or it's natural or unnatural, or blessed or if you're totally brain dead stupid condemned by some god.

On this night of the Oscars, when a fully out lesbian is welcomed and appreciated as the awards host, when a woman composer can accept her Oscar acknowledging the love and support of her wife, I must ask how much longer the strangling yoke of Puritanism will stonewall our enjoying being what we are? If Hollywood people are politically influential it's because we put ourselves into the shoes of others, and see what it would be like to be them. The acceptance of all people as valid humanity must be permitted to grow in our cultural soil. As a movie maker, I am committed to ending the obligatory treatment of gay characters as always tragic, terrible or trivial. Let's get over it, grow up, and get on with making meaningful lives for ourselves.

2,000,000 Refugees

2007-02-24T07:37:00.000-08:00

It's positively dumbfouding how weak is the outcry, how little is the outrage, that we have engineered a human tragedy, a disaster of Biblical epic proportions. TWO MILLION refugees fleeing Iraq!

If we weren't the culprits, we'd be demanding our country act quickly to stop the bloodshed. Why aren't you mad as hell? Why aren't you writing your president, your congress people, the United Nations, the Red Cross, the World Court, demanded that the invaders be pushed back, and a peace keeping force put in place by the UN to quell the civil war? Are you so wrapped up in who's the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby?* Are you too absorbed in American Idol? I'm trying to understand whether Americans are either too absorbed in the corporate news fluff predicted by "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley and explained by "Understanding Media" by Marshall MacLuhan, or have Americans been so overexposed to tragedies and disaster that we've become numb, or have Americans become so poorly educated through home schooling and attacks on public schools by the right wing that they don't get what's going on in the world?

Now our administration announces we are accepting 7,000 refugees from Iraq, a fact that has to make us pause to wonder how can we trust them to screen out Al Qaeda secret operatives?

*After you clink on this link, be sure to try some of the links on that page.

Hello Tecnorati People

2007-02-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

Technorati Profile

The Nature of Life

2007-02-20T20:53:00.000-08:00

We live in a heady time of rapid discoveries in biochemistry, biophysics and biocybernetics. From the origin of life, to the reproduction of life our insights into the nature of life are growing into useful working knowledge. In light of that, it is all the more amazing that we have not yet agreed upon a fundamental definition of what life is. What is the essential difference
between non-living and living things. It may be totally Terracentric to assume that life as we know it here is the only kind of life possible, and it may be so, however, there may be other kinds of life not based on our chemistry, physics and cybernetics.

I would like to pose the question, if we someday encounter something from somewhere other than Earth, how do we determine whether or not it is alive. It may not have DNA, proteins, or even a carbon base.

I offer a modest proposal to look to Newton's second law of thermodynamics regarding entropy. "Entropy is defined as a measure of unusable energy within a closed or isolated system (the universe for example). As usable energy decreases and unusable energy increases, "entropy" increases. Entropy is also a gauge of randomness or chaos within a closed system. As usable energy is irretrievably lost, disorganization, randomness and chaos increase." from All About Science.

I propose to define life thus; life is the activity of matter which decreases its own entropy by increasing entropy in its environs. This is a small scale definition, in that on a larger scale the average entropy of a volume of space is constant. However, if you consider the mid scale between life and the cosmos, a paradox arises. The large scale surface of entropy is smooth. When life is overlaid the same volume of space, entropy becomes full of holes like swiss cheese.

(~~~ the above painting is "Lifeform" by Ursula Freer ~~~)

The holes are living things. So, if life causes the surface of entropy to have definable features then that is an increase in information, and thus life is decreasing the entropy of space itself. Unless of course, there's some other principle that balances that principle, which is in itself a decrease in entropy. Such an infinite regression is the heart of paradox, so maybe my definition is hugely flawed. I've talked this out with friends and acquaintances over time, and so far, it has held its own as a functioning definition of life.

I'd be very pleased to hear my readers reaction to this idea.

Silver-Made Images Are Golden

2007-02-19T23:05:00.000-08:00

Painting "Craftsman" by Ras Ishi

In my lifetime I’ve watched the struggle between excellence and mediocrity, each driven by its own forces. Too often I’ve felt that mediocrity won the day. There are people who devote considerable energy going to the limit of the possible, sharpening tools to enhance the product, and nuancing every detail to coax out the best. These people are driven to whatever lengths may be necessary to attain ever higher standards of excellence, even if, as a consequence, the tendency is for them to become a small intense group. On the other hand, there are also people who seek to spread accessability by lowering standards, doing the expedient, and knowing when enough is sufficient. These people see virtue in broadening the user base to include the maximum number of participants.

In some fields of endeavor, the lone artist can polish a work or skill to perfection, but in other fields of endeavor the infrastructure required to sustain creation inherently limits the creator to those resources which are available. A violin maker, working alone, can produce a marvelous instrument, and a composer, working alone, can write timeless music, and a musician, working alone, can practice a performance of that music on that instrument until the effect is breath-taking. These succeed because, beyond talent and determination. the resources necessary for excellence may be had in small quantities. Other fields of endeavor can succeed because the resources are readily available, often because the component parts are required in a variety of uses. For example, the audiophile can pursue the holy grail of the perfect musical reproduction system because the components making up a musical system can be formed of basic electronic parts produced en masse for the electronic industry.

Motion pictures, however, occupy a unique place in our culture in that they are both a mass medium, and a medium highly reliant upon a specialized manufacturing process that is so high tech that very few companies in the world can manage it. There are probably more companies in the world capable of making rockets that can successfully fly into space, than there are companies that can manufacture motion picture film. There is a strong buzz among some in the entertainment industry to shift us away from motion picture film to electronic production and exhibition. Digital video camera are smaller, easier to use, and make better pictures than older video equipment. Digital video projectors are much brighter, sharper and more colorful than the old cathode ray tube projectors. Certainly the advances in electronic imaging technology are real improvements over what we had before, but just as certainly the technology of film imaging is advancing by at least the same degree. It is so ridiculous and patently uninformed, when video makers add phony scratches and dirt to a video image believing that is the "film look." By that reasoning, a malfunctioning old TV showing a stretched VHS tape is the "video look." I recently saw "The Good Shepherd" screened at the Lucas Digital Center in San Francisco's Presidio. There in the center of the digital cinema kingdom, we were treated to the perfection of 35mm projection which was positively marvelous.

The weakness of electronic imaging is that the entire system must upgrade to upgrade the end result. Today’s video technology is tomorrow’s junk. Changing to high definition TV means everything in the studios and everything at home must be tossed out and replaced with more expensive equipment. Changing theaters to digital projection means throwing out perfectly good projectors for equipment likely to be obsolete before the year is out. If digital video were already superior to film imaging, perhaps we could live with that little problem, but alas it is not so. On the other hand, film techology is very stable, even while constantly under improvement by manufacturers like Kodak and Fuji. My 30 year movie camera takes better pictures today than when it was new because the film negative is so much better now, and I gained all that improvement without making any changes whatsoever to the camera.

In a very real sense, the marvel of movie film springs from the fact that mechanically it is so low tech. Astonishing improvements may be had by simple means. Slit the film twice as wide to 70mm and the screen detail improves by a factor of 5, and that becomes improved by a factor of 3 times 5 in a horizontal IMAX format. Improve the sensitivity, resolution, gray scale, and color response of camera film , and every movie camera gets better by the same amount. Improve the quality of the print rawstock, and every projector automatically shows a better picture. Add registration pins to the projector aperture, and the image is as stable as a computer image. Multiply the frame rate as in Showscan and the grain disappears and the action on the screen seems more fluid and life-like. None of these changes require a massive reworking of the entire system. They have all been done, and there are more that can be done, all simply and reliably.

I am discouraged when film students are sent out with video cameras instead of Super 8’s, because they will miss the chance to see the kind of beauty they can create with film, a sacrifice for the sake of cost and expediency. I am discouraged when people with a stake in cost cutting for themselves try to force theaters to switch to digital projection. I am encouraged when I see the proliferation of IMAX theaters, and a virtual flood of films made in the process. I am encouraged when a MicroSoft exec can restore a Cinerama Theater in Seattle, or the restoration of the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, or the Australian company shooting a new film in Cinerama, 40 years after we all thought it had died forever. I am encouraged by the people who passionately restore 70mm or VistaVision films from the past so that modern audiences don’t miss out on the experience only those films can provide. I am encouraged by the number of independent film-makers who can see the difference and care enough to do the hard stuff.

Let’s face it. If the broad base of demand for a product is lost, we shall also lose the high end because it will not of itself be sufficient demand for the manufacturer to continue. If we lose film as a mass medium, we shall not only lose the beauty of the mass art, but also the special venues, and the independents. Before we lose it, sit in an auditorium with an audience, and watch a film, any film, any gauge, and see the medium itself for itself. The wonder of it is that although you’re just watching a movie, you are looking at a truly great art form. Watch a 35mm Panavision brand new release, watch a 70mm restoration of a classic, treat yourself to an IMAX film, or pull out your 8mm home movies your dad shot in the sixties and see once again how beautiful are those images. Let us not make a mistake. Let the mass medium also be the most excellent medium. Before we lose it, act.

Most of my life I've seen cinema technology constantly striving to improve the image quality, the sound quality, as well as the quality of the acting and cinematography. Now, there's an entropic force to lower expectations, to accept poorer images, and adopt lazy attitudes about the whole process of making movies. First I must question why don't you respect your audience enough to give the best you find possible, and second why don't you respect your own work? I liked the California Dairy Council ad with Vincent Price, when he held up a box of margarine and said, "One thing you'll never hear us say, is butter tastes just like margarine." How about it? Can film look just like video, and why would you want that?

Fox News Channel Is Dead

2007-02-18T22:32:00.000-08:00

Abraham Lincoln, arguably our country's favorite president but certainly the 16th, said "It is true you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time." The fortieth president Ronald Reagan said "Fortunately, we can fool enough of the people enough of the time." Thus was born the driving philosophy of the ultra conservative schemers who have dominated the media for over a generation. It is no minor co-incidence that the fairness doctrine that attempted to keep public airwaves politically neutral, was killed by the Reagan administration. Likewise, he began the dismantling of media ownership limits under the guise of freeing up the broadcast market, but knowing full well that his cash rich supporters were ready to monopolize that market.

That fun loving guy Keith Ruper Murdoch has been watching the Comedy Channel with a growing, fiery envy of the comedy channel. "Here's this upstart John Stewart doing a half hour of satire on the news, Murdoch said, "Hey, who do they think are trying to edge into my territory? I constantly push my producers to make the funniest shows on TV, but those morons out there think it's "real news" and "fair and balanced". What? Isn't Sean Hannity the best comic since Lou Costello? I even found that Colmes guy, the perfect Bud Abbott. I put lots of pretty faces up for people, especially the guys to enjoy. I covered the ladies too, and yanked Bill Hemmer away from CNN. Don't you love it when the "news anchor" biffs and bimbos stare down earnestly at a screen pretending they are at the heart of news central!!! The most brilliant thing my writers came up with was never letting their liberal guests complete a statement. We run our show on sound bites, those dems come off looking so weak, because they can only speak in sentences and paragraphs. One of my personal favorite insider jokes is ordering all the news people to say "homocide bomber" instead of "suicide bomber." Here at Murdoch headquarters we get a lot of laughs reading letters aloud from angry families complainiing we're not giving their children credit for blowing themselves to smithereens. And if all that wasn't enough to seal the deal of Fox as the funniest channel on our dish, we've given you the perfect joke, the ultimate buffoon, the baboon of babel, Bill O'Reilly. Our private joke at Fox is that Bill thinks what he does is serious, now that's a true bozo." I wish we could have gotten Rush Limbaugh in his heyday, but his ship has sailed, and besides we couldn't afford to support his habits and keep his ass out of jail."

I'm reporting all this now, in honor of President's Day, actually I'm not. This is a review of the Fox News Channel's new show "The Half Hour News Hour". If you set aside for the moment the fact that everything in the show is a lopsided, extreme right wing propaganda ploy, and if you set aside for the moment the fact that the material is absent of any sign of intellect, and only look at the quality of the humor, you realize you've been had. There's no humor in this show. Adolescent teenage boys make funnier jokes any day of the week. So why make a show that's so bad that even the performers showed extreme discomfort with their lines, and a total lack of delivery style. The story goes they've only scheduled two shows, which I'm sure the anchors are breathing a sigh of relief. They may be able to salvage their careers yet. It's possible that since their news shows and commentary ranters are so laughable, they thought to try the opposite and make a satire show that's not satire. Now if we go back to the points we set aside, we find its propaganda as naked as in the book "The Third Reich" and every bit as racist and bigoted, and we find not one shred of throught provoking insights. Making an attempt at pun by turning Obama's name into "BO" (oh, duh, I get it...body odor!) is stupid and beneath contempt. Their concept of edgy is to use racism and homophobia, and attack those who defend individual liberty and fight government fraudulent use of power. Even the laugh track sounded phony, just some control board lackie turning up the knob labeled dull roar. I must conclude that Fox set out to do a news satire show that's completely unlike the very funny, intelligent, and entertaining John Stewart and "The Daily Show." Congratulations guys, you succeeded!

P.S. Why do I say Fox News Channel is Dead? Easy, they are described in the book idolized by George Bush's faith, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. (Mathew 23:27 KJV)

Movie Magic

2007-02-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

Movie magic is no more than a magicians's trick. The phrase "moving picture" is a lie. Pictures don't move. {It might be interesting to go beyond collage in art, to finding ways to animate the elements of an image, in contrast to kinetic art which is sculpture rather than images.} We need this magic, because it resolves a tension in our minds that begins the moment we first pick up a Crayola Crayon™ and scribble. No matter how hard we scribble, the scribble lays before us static. Our scribbling becomes more refined with practice, until we are capturing the shape of a house, a flower, the sun, a cloud, a person, a bycicle, and so on without any hint of perspective or shading.
{Perhaps after the artistic success of South Park, it might work to do a cartoon totally in the style of children.} Some of us progress beyond our childlike drawings to varying degrees of drawing ability yet still may find artistic value in childhood technique. Some artists are truly amazing creatures. Computer drawing software has allowed many people without hand drawing skills create imaginitive images with software instead of camel hair. Some contemporary artists use both. In all that time, none of our pictures moved, unless we first folded them into paper airplanes. Ancient cave paintings appear to be attempting to show animals running by multiplying their legs in a fan shape. I believe, then, that a moving picture seems all the more magical the more we are aware that we are tricking our brains into perceiving motion and flow of time. Moving pictures happen in our visual cortext, not on the screen, nor in our persistence of vision in our retinas. The screen only presents a sequence of still images. Persistence of vision prevents us from seeing the flicker of dark between the images. It's the visual cortex that puts it all into motion for us sitting here centered in our prefontal lobes.

Movie magic is also the movie magic we talk about when we're talking special effects in the movies. It's perfectly fitting that one of the first genuinely creative use of early motion pictures was a professional French magicianGeorges Melies. Magicians use all sorts of contrivances to create some of their illusions, and so it's not surprising he saw in this new inventon, another kind of magic trick for his act. He had, in effect, invented the special effects department. One of my favorite Lumiere background stories is that he needed exact composition for his special effect shots, but there was no reflex viewing at that time, and only simple viewfinders. His solution was to tie strings from the camera to walls of the set, so the actors could tell when they were in frame. One more silent movie trick, I loved was Buster Keaton's "Sherlock Jr." where he blurred the line between the audience in front of the screen, and the action on the screen, by stepping from the stage into the moving picture on the screen. The trick was so well done, it's as if he's challenging you to figure out how he did it.

Movie magic shares a magic traight of that part of the human brain involved in storytelling, like the Magic Theater of Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf. When someone read us stories as children, we learned to accept that the familiar face and voice could represent other faces and other voices. The actor uses acting skills to impersonate another person, and a really fine actor can persade us that the character we're watching now is the real one, but the audience brings skills to the performance sometimes called the willing suspension of disbelief. That's an excessively fancy way of saying everyone plays the game of pretend, not just children.

Movie magic empowers us to slip inside another person's timeline of life, for a limited period of time. We can come away from that vicarious experience more insightful and more understanding of the diversity of humanity. In real life our point of view can only subjective, and what we think another persons point of view may be is conjecture. It's awesome to think about this on a crowded street,we are only vicarious with ourself, and we experience other peopleNormally, we only experience the timeline of other people, we know just walking a crowded street, everyone we pass was born some time ago, had all kinds of life experiences, and they currently have a reason to be passing by this very moment, on their way into the rest of their life.

Movie Magic is also the name of my favorite screenplay writing software.

Fool or Felon?

2007-02-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

2002

HJ 114 RHUnion Calendar No. 451
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. J. RES. 114
[Report No. 107-721] To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 2, 2002
Mr. HASTERT (for himself and Mr. Gephardt) introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
October 7, 2002
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[Strike out the preamble and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text and preamble of introduced joint resolution, see copy of joint resolution as introduced on October 2, 2002]
JOINT RESOLUTION
To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq.
Whereas in 1990 in response to Iraq's war of aggression against and illegal occupation of Kuwait, the United States forged a coalition of nations to liberate Kuwait and its people in order to defend the national security of the United States and enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq;
Whereas after the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, Iraq entered into a United Nations sponsored cease-fire agreement pursuant to which Iraq unequivocally agreed, among other things, to eliminate its nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs and the means to deliver and develop them, and to end its support for international terrorism;
Whereas the efforts of international weapons inspectors, United States intelligence agencies, and Iraqi defectors led to the discovery that Iraq had large stockpiles of chemical weapons and a large scale biological weapons program, and that Iraq had an advanced nuclear weapons development program that was much closer to producing a nuclear weapon than intelligence reporting had previously indicated;
Whereas Iraq, in direct and flagrant violation of the cease-fire, attempted to thwart the efforts of weapons inspectors to identify and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction stockpiles and development capabilities, which finally resulted in the withdrawal of inspectors from Iraq on October 31, 1998;
Whereas in Public Law 105-235 (August 14, 1998), Congress concluded that Iraq's continuing weapons of mass destruction programs threatened vital United States interests and international peace and security, declared Iraq to be in `material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations' and urged the President `to take appropriate action, in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws of the United States, to bring Iraq into compliance with its international obligations';
Whereas Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region and remains in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations by, among other things, continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability, and supporting and harboring terrorist organizations;
Whereas Iraq persists in violating resolution of the United Nations Security Council by continuing to engage in brutal repression of its civilian population thereby threatening international peace and security in the region, by refusing to release, repatriate, or account for non-Iraqi citizens wrongfully detained by Iraq, including an American serviceman, and by failing to return property wrongfully seized by Iraq from Kuwait;
Whereas the current Iraqi regime has demonstrated its capability and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction against other nations and its own people;
Whereas the current Iraqi regime has demonstrated its continuing hostility toward, and willingness to attack, the United States, including by attempting in 1993 to assassinate former President Bush and by firing on many thousands of occasions on United States and Coalition Armed Forces engaged in enforcing the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council;
Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;
Whereas Iraq continues to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations, including organizations that threaten the lives and safety of United States citizens;
Whereas the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, underscored the gravity of the threat posed by the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by international terrorist organizations;
Whereas Iraq's demonstrated capability and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction, the risk that the current Iraqi regime will either employ those weapons to launch a surprise attack against the United States or its Armed Forces or provide them to international terrorists who would do so, and the extreme magnitude of harm that would result to the United States and its citizens from such an attack, combine to justify action by the United States to defend itself;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 678 (1990) authorizes the use of all necessary means to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 660 (1990) and subsequent relevant resolutions and to compel Iraq to cease certain activities that threaten international peace and security, including the development of weapons of mass destruction and refusal or obstruction of United Nations weapons inspections in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 (1991), repression of its civilian population in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 (1991), and threatening its neighbors or United Nations operations in Iraq in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 949 (1994);
Whereas in the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1), Congress has authorized the President `to use United States Armed Forces pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 678 (1990) in order to achieve implementation of Security Council Resolution 660, 661, 662, 664, 665, 666, 667, 669, 670, 674, and 677';
Whereas in December 1991, Congress expressed its sense that it `supports the use of all necessary means to achieve the goals of United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 as being consistent with the Authorization of Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1),' that Iraq's repression of its civilian population violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 and `constitutes a continuing threat to the peace, security, and stability of the Persian Gulf region,' and that Congress, `supports the use of all necessary means to achieve the goals of United Nations Security Council Resolution 688';
Whereas the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-338) expressed the sense of Congress that it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove from power the current Iraqi regime and promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime;
Whereas on September 12, 2002, President Bush committed the United States to `work with the United Nations Security Council to meet our common challenge' posed by Iraq and to `work for the necessary resolutions,' while also making clear that `the Security Council resolutions will be enforced, and the just demands of peace and security will be met, or action will be unavoidable';
Whereas the United States is determined to prosecute the war on terrorism and Iraq's ongoing support for international terrorist groups combined with its development of weapons of mass destruction in direct violation of its obligations under the 1991 cease-fire and other United Nations Security Council resolutions make clear that it is in the national security interests of the United States and in furtherance of the war on terrorism that all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions be enforced, including through the use of force if necessary;
Whereas Congress has taken steps to pursue vigorously the war on terrorism through the provision of authorities and funding requested by the President to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;
Whereas the President and Congress are determined to continue to take all appropriate actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;
Whereas the President has authority under the Constitution to take action in order to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States, as Congress recognized in the joint resolution on Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40); and
Whereas it is in the national security interests of the United States to restore international peace and security to the Persian Gulf region: Now, therefore, be itResolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002'.
SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS.
The Congress of the United States supports the efforts by the President to--
(1) strictly enforce through the United Nations Security Council all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq and encourages him in those efforts; and
(2) obtain prompt and decisive action by the Security Council to ensure that Iraq abandons its strategy of delay, evasion and noncompliance and promptly and strictly complies with all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
(a) AUTHORIZATION- The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to--
(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
(b) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION- In connection with the exercise of the authority granted in subsection (a) to use force the President shall, prior to such exercise or as soon thereafter as may be feasible, but no later than 48 hours after exercising such authority, make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that-
(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic or other peaceful means alone either (A) will not adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq or (B) is not likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq; and(2) acting pursuant to this joint resolution is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorist and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.
(c) War Powers Resolution Requiremets-
(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.
(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS- Nothing in this joint resolution supersedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.
SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
(a) REPORTS- The President shall, at least once every 60 days, submit to the Congress a report on matters relevant to this joint resolution, including actions taken pursuant to the exercise of authority granted in section 3 and the status of planning for efforts that are expected to be required after such actions are completed, including those actions described in section 7 of the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-338).
(b) SINGLE CONSOLIDATED REPORT- To the extent that the submission of any report described in subsection (a) coincides with the submission of any other report on matters relevant to this joint resolution otherwise required to be submitted to Congress pursuant to the reporting requirements of the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148), all such reports may be submitted as a single consolidated report to the Congress.
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION- To the extent that the information required by section 3 of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1) is included in the report required by this section, such report shall be considered as meeting the requirements of section 3 of such resolution. Union Calendar No. 451

2007

(1) Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect the members of the United States Armed Forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in Iraq; and
(2) Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush announced on Jan. 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq

Bobby Chase Deserves Being a Winner

2007-02-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

I must have 40 to 50 story ideas for movies in my writing notes that range from a single line description to fully written screenplays. They are unfinished because they didn't have enough internal depth to keep me fascinated over a long period of time. Taking a story idea to a finished feature film is a long difficult process and so it must have power to fascinate over a long period of time. Fascination comes from discovering new things in the idea that were not apparent when it first occured. "The Supremacy Project" shows every sign of being one of those stories that can be explored indefinitely. It began with a simple question to myself on the street one day, "How would I react if I met someone, and learned they are a human clone?" That question led to the screenplay for "Drones, Clones and Pheromones", which led to seeing the story through to two sequels and the need for a TV anthology to make room for all the story possibilities. The wonderful part of it is seeing others get involved in this story and begin exploring it themselves. Over time I wish to introduce the people who are already on board to getting this film made.
I'll start by introducing Bobby Chase, a senior at Southern Methodist University in his final year of studying film and video production. Working on "Drones, Clones and Pheromones" will be his first experience with feature film making and I'm extremely glad he's enthusiastic to work on it. I've seen some of his student work, and he is talented and blessed with a fresh way of seeing movies. He's also one of the nicest men I've met. He's not afraid to show people that he likes them and receives love in return in an open and honest way.
I'm speaking of a man who is completely sincere in his relationships, something you can probably attribute to the warm sincerity of his parents, his two brothers and a perfectly charming grandmother. Bobby is also amazing for another reason. He's a star wide receiver for the Southern Methodist Mustang football team who made national news last year when he caught the winning touchdown in the final seconds of the final game of the year.
As much as we'd love to have Bobby working with us, it's likely his other dream will come true first, that of playing for the NFL. With his drive to succeed, and determination to excel, Bobby proved himself in college football, and with that drive and determination I expect to see him recruited this Spring. So, Bobby Chase, we all wish you success in the NFL draft. Bobby, you know I love you. Thank you for your love.

The Chemistry of Love

2007-02-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

LOVE...
For the moment let's set aside meanings of the word denoting affection, compassion, extreme liking, etc. and focus only on the romantic or intimate use of the word. How many songs have been written about love? It's easily the number one subject of popular music. How many books, novels, short stories, self help books? The feeling of love is inextricably intertwined with sexuality. All of this is Mother Nature's little joke on us, since it carries us to extreme heights of passion and sublime inner peace, but can quickly become complicated beyond our ability to cope with it, and it's loss counts as among the most devastating experiences we can know. Here's the deal, you can have the wonder and joy of intimate companionship, but you must accept the inescapable separation that must one day occur. We do accept the deal, and we have 6.5 billion human beings to prove it.

We have puzzled over the mystery of to whom we are attracted, and with whom we fall in love, and explaining it as fate, or deity intervention in our lives, or sometimes we often said "It's chemistry". It should come as no suprpise as science teases out the secrets of our physiology to discover that indeed chemistry plays a big role. Internally, we are driven by hormones, this is nothing new, except for identifyiing the chemicals in our brain that cause the feelings of euphoria and bonding. What's new is learning that we are not different from other animals, but communicate our feelings to one another through chemicals called pheromones. We produce chemicals that sexually attract others. Pheromones don't create compulsions, but act more like the music in a love scene, enhancing the feelings of what is already happening. Lower mammals recognize about 1500 pheromones with the vomeronasal organ inside their nostrils, but we lack that organ. However, our olfactory epithelium has phermomone receptors for about 500. Whereas the sense of smell connects with the primitive brain stem, the pheromone sense connects with the amygdala, which is seat of emotions located behind our pre-frontal lobes. We feel pheromones, rather than smell them.

Whereas most pheromones are common among us, we have a personal pheromone we produce on our upper lips, that has encoded on it, the MHC of our DNA. MHC is our multihistocompatiblility complex, those genes that create our immune system. We are attracted to people whose MHC's are much different from our own, probably so that our offspring have a broader immune response. This is so specific that we can react to an MHC in the air from someone in a crowded room and find our way to them in spite of being in a virtual pheromone fog from everyone else. For a short while after child birth, a woman's MHC reverts to wanting to be with those similar to her own. A woman on birth control pills also has her attraction preference switched to similar MHC's rather than different. Some early research in fact has shown that relationships begun under the influence of the pill, tend be be shorter than otherwise. There is evidence that gay people produce and react to some of the same pheromones, but also some specific to homosexuals, which may help explain "gaydar".

Although human pheromones have been only recently identified, research has already begun in creating synthetic versions using recombinant DNArecombinant DNA splicing into common human gut bacteria. Perfumers are especially interested in more powerful human sexual attractors, and there are occasional rumors of secret government projects to determine if they have military value, not unlike the disastrous MK-Ultra experiments in the 1950's with LSD conducted by the CIA on American citizens. Government watch groups are especially concerned over leaked reports about a highly addictive synthetic human pheromone called on the streets "F9" by its unfortunate addicts.

As a country we are engaged in a debate over gay marriage. Somehow the idiotic voices spewing nonsense that gay people have an agenda to destroy marriage have been featured on news media as if they made sense. Actually, the Christian Church during the Middle Ages had marriage rites for same sex couples.
Contrary to foolish statements that gays don't have children, there are in fact a large and growing number of families with gay parents. If marriage is a sacrament, then it's a religious rite, rather than a legal right, and should not be part of of our laws. Let the states establish unions or domestic partnerships, and let religious organizations marry or refuse to marry whomever they please. "Why shouldn't I be able to marry my dog?" Now that's about as stupid an argument as I've ever heard.

Who Will Be Homoperfectus Felix?

2007-02-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

The movie "Drones, Clones and Pheromones" and its sequels is an epic story of Felix, a cloned human who is so radically enhanced that he may well be Homoperfectus, our species' successor. Whereas previous stages in our evolution happened through random mutations and natural selection, Homoperfectus is the creation of the ingenuity of Homosapiens. Although a new type of human such as Felix will still be subject ultimately to the test of time, he will benefit from the fact that we are already disrupting natural selection through our advances in medical science.

When our story begins, Felix is a senior in high school trying to get along with his peers. He lives among a tribe of clone families at the Human Destiny Foundation, and has been raised by one of his creators, Dr. Victor Darwin. His other creator Ricardo has abandoned him, even though he is the prototype for the boy. Felix's innate abilities make him attractive, full of vitality, athletic, and the level of his soaring intellect cannot be determined by conventional IQ measurements.

And so, the casting of an actor to play Felix has requirements that will be difficult to meet in full. In addition to physical beauty, he must be athletic. In addition to articulate and natural speech, he may also have a good singing voice although that is not a requirement. He has to look the right age, but he must be old enough not to change radically over the course of several years of producing three films. Above all, he must have charisma to appeal to a broad spectrum audience, while creating a wholly new character in the cinematic cosmos. Felix will be a memorable character for the ages. I have been looking at up-and-coming talent to play Felix, although it would make a lot of good sense to have an unknown actor so that he carries no emotional baggage to our audience. The future as seen in our story has grown beyond mindless sexual bigotry and heterosexism, and entered an age of a more fluid sexuality, (pun recognized but not intended). The bigotry that will show its face is not in the gender of lovers, but in the relationships between regular humans and cloned humans. We are using homophobia as the model for clonophobia, which then will say something about homophobia to our audience.

First thought would beJustin Long , currently seen in the Apple Computer commercials as "Hi, I'm a Mac". Although he had been in films like Jeepers Creepers" ", it was in Dodgeball"" I first paid attention to him because he was fresh, funny, and extremely likable. Since our story is set 20 years in the future, it may make sense to Apple to sponsor his role in the film, because their logo seen all over the film would show Apple as the dominate computer company in the future.

Another direction I would like to go, would be to find an even newer face, but with demonstrated ability to appeal across the board. I would consider a talent like Jay Brannan, who appeared in and indie feature film "Short Bus" in 2006, and is a rising star in the realm of song writing and performing. His music is personal, thoughtful, and heartfelt. His melodies stay with you and he has a marvelous voice. At times he sounds a little like James Taylor but mostly its purely his own persona. His lyrics have the power of a Joni Mitchell or Van Morrison. He currently is performing in clubs in New York and Los Angeles, and if you get the chance to see him, you'd thank me for alerting you to him. He has his own website, he has a page on YouTube, and a page on My Space.

Otherwise, if you know of someone that meets the role requirments for Felix, please tell him about "Drones, Clones and Pheromones and leave a comment in my guestbood please.

The Real Anna Nicole Smith Tragedy

2007-02-12T11:28:00.000-08:00

The world is still reeling from the sudden death of 39 year old, voluptuous and curvaceous, blonde Playboy centerfold in 1992, Guess jeans model, reality show star, the dream date of every hetero male, the envy of every hetero female, bride of octogenarial oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II owner of Great Northern Oil Company, Anna Nicole Smith. Her body was discovered by her private nurse in her sixth floor, hotel room of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollwood, Hollywood Florida that is. Smith's 20 year old son had died just five months earlier in the Bahamas apparently from a drug overdose. The autopsy will be performed by Dr. Joshua Perper, the chief Broward County medical examiner while the world anxiously awaits the results. Smith attorney Ron Rale told The Associated Press that he had talked to her on Tuesday or Wednesday, and she had flu symptoms and a fever and was still grieving over her son. He dismissed claims her death was related to drugs as “a bunch of nonsense.” Marshall died in 1995 at age 90, setting off a feud with Smith’s former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to his estate. A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million. That was later overturned. But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case, ruling that she deserved another day in court. Smith's 5 month old daughter Dannielynn is now the potential heir to the multimillion dollar fortune, which has spawned a rash of claims of paternity. The baby's birth certificate lists her attorney and close friend Howard K. Stern as the father, but other claims include Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the Bahamian immigration minister, who approved her application for permanent residency, Larry Birkhead, a former boyfriend of Smith, however, some hold to the theory of immaculate conception. Some have even said that Anna Nicole may have inseminated herself with J. Howard Marshall's frozen sperm making the heir to his fortune also his daughter.

It pays to look behind the news. Be sure to click on the links on this page!

What's In A Name?

2007-02-11T13:51:00.001-08:00

I would have chosen a simpler name for this blog, if I knew simpler words that meant exactly the same.

A name transforms reality into language.

"That which we call a rose, by another name would smell as sweet" (Shakespeare "Romeo and Juliet)

And so:

Homoperfectus is the term sometimes used to denote the species that will evolve from Homosapiens , that is, us.

Avatar is used in the computer sense of representing myself as the blogger and you as the visitor. Watch for the day when Blogger will merge with The Sims to enable us to relate to one another on the web as animated figures.

"Come on the amazing journey, and learn all you should know." ("Tommy" by the Who)

I and my friends are developing a future-fiction, theatrical, feature-film "Drones, Clones and Pheromones".

Human cloning is inevitable, unless humanity is rendered helpless by calamity or catastrophe. I'm not comfortable with that idea, but it will happen someday, somewhere, maybe not in our lifetime but it will happen. When it does, the opportunity to select genetic traits, and to splice DNA from other sources will be irrestible. Humanity will not longer reproduce only through the random selection typified by the back seat of automobiles, but we will be actively engaged in determining the fundamental human nature of our descendants. Ethics and laws are lagging way behind technology, and morals have been left in the dustbin of history. It's not too early to start thinking about these things, so when they are a reality, we have developed a body of thought and opinion to guide us.

In "Drones, Clones and Pheromones" we see ourselves twenty years from now discovering that there are human clones who have grown up in our midst and are now coming out of the closet. They are highly intelligent, talented, marvelous physical specimens, superior in practically everyway to regular humans. This is going to scare some people silly. Others will be fascinated and friendly with them. Others won't care so long as they do their job, and "don't scare the horses". Unfortunately, there will surely be those who oppose them viciously out of religious beliefs, or for political opportunity. The main character of the story is a coming of age teenage clone who must discover for himself what he is, what is purpose in life should be, and what are the answers to the ethical questions posed by his radically experimental abilities. He is the avatar of humanity as we come to terms with the implications, promises and responsibilities of taking evolution into our own hands. Fortunately, he finds a life partner in a regular human who brings love into his life and connects him to the fundamentals of life of which we all must partake.

This film is the first part "The Supremacy Project" consisting of a theatrical trilogy and a TV series spinoff. Who will gain supremacy as enhanced clones enter our society, impact our culture, and assimulate with us? Will the enhancements give the cloned humans a powerful edge, or will regular humans as the crown of creation prevail because of force of millions of years of natural evolution? Personally, I believe the superior human beings are those who recognize the humanity in all people.

While we ramp up to producing "Drones, Clones and Pheromones" on 35mm film, we are producing it's backstory as a prequel told in random fragments as webmovies on Youtube, MySpace and CurrentTV. If you want to learn more, we've set up a Back Story page on our website. A lot of people are trying a lot of new ways of telling stories using the internet, but we have taken it giant step further, and you can be part of it whether your style is festival film making, or webmovie making. It's going to be a blast!

Thank you for staying with me to the bottom of this page.