p e n g u i n d e v i l

Pondering the endless horrid things in the news: the horrifying “intelligent design” (takes me back to the wonderful eugenics experiments of the 30’s-50’s, and the racist christian dogma of the late 19th century), Creationism (maybe humans were created by the penguin god? Anyone ever think of that? It makes just as much sense but sounds more fun to me), the overthrow of Iraq (didn’t the French, Russian, Indian and American revolutions teach us that if people really don’t like their government, they’ll get rid of it on their own?), the obliteration of the Palestinian people (weren’t the Jewish people at one time forced to wear ethnic ID and get crowded into walled up neighborhoods?) , Oil companies profiteering off of hurricanes, young girls turning up dead, the Crusades, heroin addiction, the Religious right’s hatred of the truth and the religious freedom that founded this country… Gets me to thinking about things. Things as in people and the funny things that they choose to do.

It makes me want to wile away some time pondering the way things are and why people fear reality so much (and I don’t just mean drug users). Ones perception of the world is as one makes it. There is no spirit world, no psychic world, no alien infestation, no zombies, no alternate realities. All that garbage just causes problems. This new (to me) notion that the religious right supports: pollution, wars and hatred because they see those as the steps leading to armageddon? Those fools will kill us all, in the name of their pre-historic ignorance! Could there be people as evil as people who are hoping to destroy everything in the hope that their warped beliefs will send them to the promised land? How can people be soo obtuse as to not realize that the Judeo-Christian god (stolen from the Babylonians anyway), is as unreal (though much more boring) as Re and the Boat of a Million Years and Thor and his Hammer of Thunderbolts.? The fear people having of living in a human world is shocking to me. Drug addicts, religious folk, racists… Do the penguins fear living in the penguin world? I doubt it.

Though even with all this gibberish going on, I believe that all people are inherently good and responsible. They can be easily fouled up by experiences and environment and can easily be taught to think bad things. Everyone has the ability to make there lives into anything they like, regardless of circumstances. Sure, most people don’t get around to it. I’m doing in slowly myself. But, it’s not like I can’t. And it’s not like anyone else can’t.

All of the problems that people cause themselves and others are due to their insecurities. Greed, lust, arrogance, religious faith, violence… All have their roots in people not feeling good or confident in themselves. Sometimes those are deeply taught values so it seems like it’s their “culture” not their insecurities. But no, thats what it really is. That’s why in every environment there is always someone who sees the right way things should be done, even if they have the same background. They have the luck (or misfortune) to begin to see why things are how they are.

Why do some religious folks have such a strong fear of non-religious or other religions? Because they fear losing their faith. Why do they fear losing their faith? Because they have soo little confidence in who and what they are that their faith becomes their anchor to the world and the thought of losing it seems like losing yourself. Therein lies all fear of loss. Our place in the world is made of who we have decided we are, losing some of that, whatever it may be, can lead to extreme psychological and emotional damage. The keys? Either re-define yourself into something different than you thought you were or cope with being who you are.

Anyway. That’s enough of my ranting. But, I guess that’s what Blogs are for!

Now onto movies!

I neglected to mention last time that we watched School of Rock. Of course, I was quite reluctant to watch this. It being a comedy and all and though I have liked Jack Black in the past, I used to have to suffer through his musical outfit and it caused me some distress. Anyway. We watched it and I really found it quite endearing and entertaining. I was surprised by and liked how much it focused on music from the days of my youth, and the kids weren’t bad and Jack was plenty entertaining and the terrible band at the Battle was just a little too realistic…

I also watched Kontroll. It was a great movie! A little odd but very good, well directed, visually great, well acted and interesting. I liked the grittiness of it and that it never left the subway. The plot, or at least the way it was presented was very engaging. I don’t know, as always, what else to say. If you like foreign movies with a gritty low-budget kind of feel that are maybe a bit dark. This might be for you. I also love subways so that was a big added plus. highly recommended!

I than watched Point Blank. Lee Marvin is always an exciting fellow to watch and though the movie didn’t seem like it might be all that much, the direction (did Boorman ever go wrong?) and the visuals and Lee Marvin and Carrol O’Conner and John Vernon (why did he get such low billing?), those were all top notch aspects. The action scenes were really great too, once you witness the fight between Angie Dickenson and Lee Marvin, you just can’t go back!

Also on the agenda was Catch Me if You Can. Yes, it was finely entertaining. An intriguing story… But Tom Hank’s accent bothered me a bit.

We also watched, To Catch a Thief. I couldn’t really get into it. It was fine and all, though I don’t really like Cary Grant, but it didn’t really live up to what I expect from Hitchcock. The movies of his that I love: The Lady Vanishes, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Vertigo… Maybe even Rope if you can find a version that doesn’t give it away at the beginning… Those are all masterful suspense movies. I found nothing like that in this one. It was kind of “just a movie”. But it was alright.