El Capitan, Tennis, and Concerns

Epiphone makes an acoustic bass guitar they call 'El Capitan.' I know because El Capitan calls me from my guest room even now, 'Senor Rick, come and play.'

Anyway, we shall see how it goes. I have started to contact some recommended teachers as well as finding some cool bass tutorial web sites.

It is like tennis to me, only later. I was (am) an intellectual-type (read: dork or geek, if you prefer), so I never really gravitated to 'activities', per se. I picked up tennis in junior high despite lack of training, and, eventually, came to enjoy it. Now it is a skill I assume as part of my personality. It is part of who I am.

Can bass become the same? My concern is that it is late in life to start something as complex and... well, as big as playing a musical instrument. But singing bass for years has tuned me to hear bass. I hear the lines under every tune. I remember where I was when I first heard Alanis Morissette's 'You Oughta Know' where Flea kicks in. [Bass geeks know what I am talking about.] I bought Best of Parliament to listen to Bootsy. Seriously.

But, do I have time? This is the concern. Quakers (e.g. Thomas Kelly) have a more nuanced definition of the term 'concern' - something like a calling from God to ponder and skillfully act. Playing the bass is NOT a concern like that, but becoming overloaded with numerous good activities could be. I have experienced ebbs and flows of involvement in the past, first too much and then too little. Back and forth. Adding bass around the same time as I have joined the Board of the local theatre group, contemplated writing a 3-4 person play, and offered to teach church classes again... this all sounds like a recipe for overcommitment and burnout. Ebb and flow.

So, my current strategy is to try to use my time more efficiently and pay attention to my stress levels. When danger is detected, then I will have to start throwing ballast overboard rather than rearranging the deck chairs.

Gotta go. El Capitan and snow shoveling call (not necessarily in that order).

Vitus and Blogging

Watched a Swiss-German film last night, Vitus. Basic story is a young piano prodigy and all-around genius has to find his way. He has the overbearing support of his mother and the loose, supportive freedom of a Yoda-like grandfather. Tempting morsels include: an interest in bats, insider trading in the stock market, a professional flight simulator, possible brain damage, a babysitter who is the love of his life (at the age of 12), a leaky roof, the Rolls-Royce of hearing aids, and tons of excellent Classical piano music. Subtitled. Highly recommended.

The film raises the excellent question of 'why do you do what you do?' In conversations with S this morning, we agreed that this life seems, on some level, to have 'ended up' here without much piloting. I added that the results are so good that it might be counterproductive to take the wheel at this time. What does that say? It begs the question of what you want and what you desire and what you enjoy (back to Zizek and Lacan, to an extent). In the film, Vitus must break away from playing to piano for his mother's reasons and find his own reasons. We all carry baggage from the early years. But what have we settled on enjoying?

For example, if we are to anatomize my history a bit, I started in grad school not because I loved Henrician England or the Renaissance, but because I had a good undergrad teacher and wanted to teach. Grad school allowed me to do that a little, but required me to divert a lot of energy trying to be good at something that I turned out not to be good at, research in a foreign language. Teaching was my oasis, and the archives were my burden. I can say that now. I slogged through because I am also somewhat OCD about completing things.

So, I did not find a history teaching job. Let's not go into the reasons, because it doesn't matter now. Anyway, I gravitated to a job teaching computers, not because I was particularly adept with the things, but because it gave me the chance to teach for 6-8 hours per day, 50 weeks a year, for 10 years. And I grew. And I learned. And I evolved into that shape, the shape of a teaching person.

So, that company ended, and I got a job as a DBA. Being a trained communicator in the IT field helps differentiate you, BTW, so I rose in the pay grades and the titles. I became a manager and am one today. I work. I enjoy it some days, and not other days, but I always take it seriously (perhaps too much on some days).

But, where did the teaching go? In most conversations, I have said that the end of my dissertation process was the cutting of the anchor-line causing me to drift. That may not be true. Rather, the end of my teaching job may more accurately be the beginning of my fade. My ups and downs have become more pronounced since I don't have the teaching outlet for my pent-up teacher-nature.

So, what to do now? Teach at night? Become a certified tennis trainer? Teach a church class or two? Learn something new that I can then teach to others? What would that be? As I come to recognize myself better (blogging is part of that discernment process), perhaps I will better be able to target the next step in my evolution, rather than letting the pilotless boat keep going where it will.

Zizek and The Thin Man

Ten years later, I learned that Lacan's claim to fame is applying Freud to language-constructs as an extension of psychoanalysis. I knew he had a Freud-thing, but this book on Zizek really flipped the switch. I kind of think Lacan is still convoluted and self-indulgent (rather than informative), but he his method does SEEM clearer.

William Powell and Myrna Loy in The Thin Man are fabulous. How can a movie from 1934 (other than It Happened One Night) be so fantastically prescient of the dialogue that we all wish we could have? Highly recommended as a period piece as well as a ground-breaker in the ways of banter and dialogue.

Enchanted, the Ottoman Empire, Anna Faris and Charlie Kaufman

Movies:
Enchanted. I was. Really good to see the Shrek-take on classic stories being brought to live action. Amy Adams presents the perfect balance of smart and starry-eyed. Patrick Dempsey started a bit stiff, but became more likable as the story continued and he softened. Highly recommended. I might even purchase this one to have it at my fingertips.
House Bunny. Wow. After Smiley Face, I wanted to believe that it was the material, and not the actress (Anna Faris). With material and evidence piling up, I am coming to the conclusion that Ms. Faris only has one note, and an agent that helps her pick the absolutely worst screenplays. Do not waste the 1.5 hours on this movie. Sorry. I did. Consider it my effort to protect you.
Adaptation. On the other hand, this is one of the best screenplays alive today, and Nicholas Cage's most nuanced role,... maybe ever. I am a Charlie Kaufman fan anyway, but Adaptation presents a wonderful study of making something out of nothing, something with depth and meaning (as opposed to the Seinfeldian circle back to set the world back to zero). This film and screenplay merits revisiting and rethinking numerous times. And it can stand up to such a focused attention, unlike so much else coming out of Hollywood. Become a Charlie Kaufman fan.
So.
The Ottoman Empire. I am thinking about constructing two church classes. The first would be called something like "Rome and Jerusalem" and consist of 3 sections of 3 classes each - 3 on the history of the Roman Republic and Empire up to the birth of Jesus, 3 on the history of Judea and the Jewish religion up to the birth of Jesus, and the final 3 of the intersection of Roman and Jewish power and religious tensions around the time of Jesus. I know that is a lot of material to fit into 9 weeks, but the high level would be sufficient for the first pass. At this time, we need to set a stage for deeper dives in our church education, so this is a beginning, not a graduate seminar.
The second class would be more related to the Ottoman Empire. I would want to structure something in the arena of post-Jesus Mediterranean World and the Middle East with an eye to the interaction of politics and religion. This class would also be a light touch, a setting of the stage, a presentation of basics to identify the holes in knowledge and the resonances of pertinence. Early Christian community evolution, the Councils, the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, the rise of Islam, the Crusades, the Renaissance and Reformation in the shadow of the Turkish East. I would probably stop with the Reformation. I have already taught that class in some detail a few years ago.
But this sets the stage for some more detailed discussions of Islam and the subtle and delicate (im)balances in the Middle East and Mediterranean World today.
Comments? Recommended books? Topics not to forget?

Netflix versus Empire Era Begins

Yes, we have entered into the 20th century (just eight years too late).

Sweeney Todd with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter - highly recommended Tim Burton adventure.
Smart People with Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Ellen Page. Not smart, people. When will I actually care about any of the characters?
Monster with Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci. Wow! Yes, I have been living under a rock on some of these movies. I should have seen them before now. Well, Charlize Theron was amazing.
Smiley Face with Anna Faris. Don't. Much more agape (not even frowny). The film lacks point and even the lame attempt to introduce the depth, theoretical interest and the Communist Manifesto is subverted by the society-preserving ending in which the law breaker pays her debt society. Anna Faris is adorable and comically rich, but the material is poor and weak.

Connections - Progressive Christianity, Michel Foucault, and the Joker in Dark Knight.
A while back, in a church class, we were discussing the difficulty with Progressive Christianity. Progressive Christianity lacks a compelling narrative. Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan are good at sniping at the simplistic and literal interpretation/story of Jesus and the narrative of the roots/formation of Christianity. But there has been no one stepping up with a compelling counter-narrative to the literal reading of the Gospels.
So.
Would Foucault say that we are reading and acting rationally within a grid (episteme?) of stories and meaning that repeat the super-hero meta-narrative? Jesus as super-hero. We, as human culture, are at some level in a crisis so beyond our own understanding that the only way to salvation (whatever that may be) is through the intervention of benevolent billionaires, benevolent aliens, or the loving son of God. Can't we act/work our way out of this? We have a problem of being overwhelmed by the situation and the news, and we choose to wait for a savior and bury our heads in the TV,- alcohol-, entertainment-, consumerist sand.
How do I get my head out of the sand? How do I become unaddicted to the soothing effects of TV, alcohol, sleep? Isn't it important that someone talk about this, act in some micro-political way to nudge people awake [see Walter Bruggemann's The Prophetic Imagination]?
Or is the situation more like Joker's assertion that we (humans in society) are afraid and struggling to have and to enact plans... that are too easily tipped toward evil or destruction?
In fighting 'terrorism' (and terrorism is definitely a bad thing), haven't we (USA) exported and inflicted more violence than the 'terrorists' ever could? We have a much larger budget, after all. What if the real danger is not the 'terrorists,' but that we will become the exporters of terror throughout the world and not even see our own faces, not even see what we are doing? What if we just push the needle deeper into the grooves on the record that plays the soothing song of 'exporting democracy and freedom' back to us? Living inside an empire, can citizens see the imperial activities? Can we really feel compassion for the 'other'? Can we think outside the grid/episteme of the comfortable society?
Jesus, as I read things, told a story of compassion ('com' with; 'passion' to feel; to feel with) within an empire. His story was (is?) so subversive that he was killed by the Powers, like so many prophets before and after. [Perhaps we will talk about Atonement some other day.] Stories and grids of meaning are, following Foucault, indeed, foundational, formational and political.
So, what story do we tell ourselves? What stories do we choose to tell about ourselves?
So.
I live with a healthy sense of cognitive dissonance, obviously. Netflix versus Empire-
awareness. In V for Vendetta, Evie says 'Artists tell lies to reveal the truth while Politicians tell lies to conceal the truth.' Perhaps in art and entertainment, there are some 'truths' that threaten to sneak into our hearts, minds and spirits along with all of the empty intellectual calories. Maybe.

Attempt To Keep a Schedule

Okay, so I did not make Saturday. And this will be short... but I am trying.

In the category of weird film double-features: Taxi Driver and The Parent Trap (remake with Lindsay Lohan, not the original). Okay, the link, and there is one, comes at the end.

Anyway, Taxi Driver. Not one for the kids, but a fantastic study in the dangers of isolation in the middle of a big city. Martin Scorsese directs Robert DeNiro - do I need to say more? Anyway, Travis (DeNiro) battles what has come to be called PTSD with the accompanying insomnia. Travis becomes a Taxi Driver, and starts to observe, stalk, and eventually judge the humanity that surrounds and frequents his cab. Cybill Shepherd - dizzyingly beautiful. Jodie Foster -  disturbingly vulnerable. At one point, Travis purchases an armory of handguns, practices at the shooting range, and threatens himself in the mirror with the now famous phrase "You talkin' to me? YOU talkin' to ME?" Travis could be a villian or a hero, though his actions are essentially the same, carried out in a vastly different setting. Great film.

Okay, The Parent Trap. Not on the same level as Taxi Driver, but a light dessert after a heavy main course. Lindsay Lohan gives, unfortunately, her first and probably best performance. Would that she got better rather than sliding down the skill hill. Anyway, about half-way through the film, Hallie is suddenly faced with the evil Merideth, whom Hallie has not yet met. Merideth, having met Annie (the other twin), begins to talk to Hallie in a familiar (and evil) fashion. Hallie says "You talkin' to me?" Merideth responds, "Who do you think you are, Robert DeNiro?... yes, I'm talking to you." This accidental coincidence led to much laughter.

We just joined NetFlix (hey, worth a try), so there will be more film reviews. In addition, we will be seeing a play on Wednesday night, so perhaps a theatre review before Saturday.

Happy Holidays to all!! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Kicka$$ Kwanzaa! Whichever.

Collected Thoughts - December 2008

So, it seems I am need more discipline to post more regularly. I will post something every Saturday, going forward. [Let's see how long I can keep this schedule.]

Listening to Paramore's Riot album, which plays into the combined desires I have for punk-like rock music as well as keeping a little connected to some strands of 'popular' music. Kind of like Avril Lavigne with a louder and pushier band. I like it.

Also in heavy rotation is Juliana Hatfield's latest, How To Walk Away. I will refrain from my macro-analysis of Juliana's musical bi-polar disorder, but this is the happiest sounding record in a while (big step up from Made in China, in my opinion). Juliana has been a staple of my musical diet for decades now, like an old friend who you don't see every day, but then you hang out one weekend, like no time had intervened. Give it a listen. Catchy with dark and sarcastic lyrics.

Watched Angelina Jolie and James McEvoy in Wanted. I have described it as a writer aiming to combine Fight Club, Matrix, and Office Space. What I have failed effectively to communcate to my friends and family is that the writer missed. The voice-overs would have been funnier and more effective from Edward Norton, the action would have been more effective if wrapped in a more-developed story, and the office is a parody of a parody. Angelina has cool tattoos and is pretty (though the excessively raccoon-like eye makeup here borders on visual comedy). Yeah, I get that. She is also a better actress than this movie allows (see a more amusing and convincing Angelina in Mr. and Mrs. Smith (or Tomb Raider for that matter, d'oh).).

Dark Knight is still good, and it is awesome that it is on DVD now, because you can pause for the multiple bathroom breaks that you will need during this long, long film. Still love the Joker magic trick with the pencil. Sums up the character: playful, performative, dark, and unmoored from any societal norms.

Milwaukee Rep's production of The Blonde, The Brunette, and The Vengeful Redhead by Robert Hewett was a fantastic performance of a spotty script. Deborah Staples played 7 different characters in this one-woman show: a scorned redhead, a trashy brunette and an ambivalent Russian blonde as well as an elderly neighbor lady, a British physician, a 4-year-old boy, and a foul-mouthed husband. The weaving of the stories is pretty good, but the couplings and re-couplings of the characters as threads break and new connections are made... just weren't all believable. Ms. Staples transitions and portrayals, however, were consistently excellent and startling in their diversity. She was impressive as Lydia Gwilt in Armadale, but this is a step up on the scale of difficulty. Impressive again.