Am I the only one who thinks Mumford and sons sucks?

These guys are like a cheap knock off of a bluegrass band, but they aren't even good.  They have no soul or melody.

room 237

This movie was worth while, it was interesting, entertaining and made you think. For a fan of the shining, or Kubrick or conspiracy theories this was a great film. Junk science came to mind a few times, to me the most interesting parts of the film were the details which were brought to the attention of the viewer which Kubrick definitely had a hand in, the conspiracy theories, ideas about the holocaust, extermination of the native Americans and faking of the lunar landing were a bit more out there but intriguing and I wouldn't put anything past Kubrick. The most interesting point of the film to me was the discussion of post modern works of art and the claim that irregardless of the authors intent, themes can be found which might have been or have not been consciously intended. Overall, the mind of Kubrick, his eye for detail, his humor and overall brilliance is what is most evident when watching this film. If one looks for themes and ways to make connections they can be found in many different places, overall this can lead to seeing reality though higher levels of awareness and if one is lucky enough glimpses of enlightenment, that was the broader and most important theme in this movie.

Bop Prosidy

I haven't posted anything on here in a while, but for some reason tonight have the bug.  This may be just a ramble incoherent stream of thought, and if anyone actually stumbles upon this and reads it I apologize in advance, it may or may not make sense depending I suppose on what comes out now and my grammar and punctuation.  I am not going to attempt to make this flow in any real way and may come out as more diarrhea than a solid true good feeling shit.   Either way you feel better after, well I feel better not sure you will, no one likes to have diarrhea sprayed on them while the act of spraying may make me feel better it will most certainly make the person its sprayed upon feel worse.  Goes with the whole yin and yang, positive and negative gravity's rainbow thing of it all, the black and white binary number one cant exist without the other unless of course both exist at the same time like Schrodinger's cat, but then the act of viewing, which in this case would be diarrhea might change the whole controlled environment.

Anyway, where was I, what was the point of all that you might ask, well, the point is that is an excersise I learned in college in order to get back into writing, like earlier tonight I stretched to warm up my muscles because i hadn't done yoga in a while. Jack Keroac called this "Bop prosidy" meaning writing as a sort of Jazz, where it just flows without regard to what is coming out, he believed this is where the real heavy stuff came from.  I am of mixed opinion on this, for example I saw this movie room 237 this past weekend and it was about the patterns and themes in kubricks the shining, and at the end they said the theory of post modern literature is you make your own associations and opinions based on what you gather from the work, whether intended or not consciously intended by the author.  One could take that even further and stress on the question for your own personal conscious expansion you will find your own synchronicities and themes, not just in art but in all of LIFE and that is how you will actually achieve higher levels of consciousness and awareness.  This brings me to my point, i overheard on the bus today two people talking, pseudo intellectual types or maybe actual intellectuals who is to say what seperates what at times they blur into each other, however, they were talking about how one of them felt he was a base human, and he wanted to become a real human, so the other said what is the difference? the base human guy said the difference is base humans just deal in the world as animals, ego, greed, sex, power, and one would say just like a dog or monkey, so really animalistic.  The regular human is connected to himself in other ways, higher connection has gotten past ego.  I am a base human from that conversation perhaps but who knows, either way it me to thinking that thought is the enemy of evolving.

America's top ten hipster cities

Travel and Leisure magazine just came out with the top ten most hipster friendly cities, which got me reflecting on what is a hipster? what does that word mean? where did this all begin? Firstly, if you ask a hipster what a hipster is, they will describe with disdain a person who has ironic facial hair, tight jeans and a holier than thou attitude, while sipping on their soy latte and surfing Pitchfork on their MacBook pro. The actual definition is not really that elusive, its as simple as the definition for pornography "I know it when I see it" undoubtedly, many people who live in urban areas can point out a hipster when they see one but couldn't really give you a definitive definition. 
   Recently I re-watched "High Fidelity" staring John Cusack and Jack Black, and I realized that movie came out in 2000, at that time I was living in New York City, and Williamsburg was the birthplace, or origin of hipsterdom.  If High Fidelity were to come out now, those people would be identified as hipsters, ten years before that they were slackers, around 1980 they were new wave or part of the Madonna or Jean-Micheal Basquit art and music scene in SoHo.  If you go back further you can say the Velvet Underground were hipsters and before that Allen Ginsburg and his Beat Generation crew.  My point being, its a counter culture, you have a mainstream and then you have those that are either a bit ahead of the curve as far as societal values or those that are outsiders to what they consider a bland, corrupt, or evil mainstream of politics, banks and corporations.  In some ways they are right, but just like the hipster ethos will eventually become mainstream and co-opted by the corporations, you can look through history and see how this has happens with each counter culture movement along the way.    This is nothing new, and once Hipsterdom is fully mainstream it will die out and be reborn as something else. 

Jobs, career, what's admirable?

      It's funny what jobs society deems cool and which people look at with contempt, of course this varies on society, country and region, but universally some are seen as more admirable than others where ever you are in the world.  Actor, musician, writer, certain business people, artists, you get the picture.  Those jobs are seen as somehow better than janitor, garbageman, insurance salesman, but if you are going to die, and you can't take your job with you, what does it matter what you do for a living? Most people just need money to pay the bills or get by, so what does it matter what they do to make money.  Sure, you may say we admire those with talent, but that is something that should not be admired, it's like admiring someone for being tall, these are the gifts people are born with our without.   One should be admired for honesty, character, being humble, or better yet, no one should look down upon or admire anyone else.  The act of admiring others is basically an ego thing that comes down to putting yourself either above or below someone else, comparing, measuring.   Every person is on their own trip, it's your personal journey.  Do what you do to the best of your ability, don't worry about anyone else because you aren't perfect and neither am I. 

Slow Carb Diet week three

This is my third week on the Slow Carb Diet.  My weight this morning was 182 pounds down from my high of 197.5 around six weeks ago, I had started a version of the low carb diet but didn't start seeing real results until I started the strict slow carb diet.  This week my energy has been a bit lower but I feel this is because I have been eating mostly protein and vegetables, not as many beans as is recommended.  Today I had egg whites for breakfast with a bit of salsa and 4% cottage cheese, about one large scoop of the cottage cheese.  A chicken fajita bowl minus rice and cheese with some guacamole from Chipotle for lunch and a shredded beef fajita bowl minus rice and cheese for dinner also with a scoop of guacamole.  My mouth has been dry, I have been drinking quite a bit of water but this is something I am not sure why is happening.  Other than some minor cravings, for sugar and cheese, I am planning on continuing the slow carb diet for a long time, as long as I can.  Most of the restrictions can be adapted in most restaurants or places of dining once you get the hang of it.

Tape (film review) Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman

Very well written drama with sharp dialogue.  Linklater proves again here why he was one of the best writers of dialogue of the 90's.  Ethan Hawke plays a loose canon drug dealer and volunteer firefighter who travels to Lansing Michigan to attend his High School buddies film screening at the Lansing Film Festival.  The drama begins right as the two reconnect and keeps escalating.  Captivating interactions, great character studies and many twists and turns.  Again Linklater shows what can be done with solid actors, a good script and a low budget.  The entire film takes place in one room.  Incidentally this would be a good play as well.  Reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock s "Rope" which also took place in one room and built an intriguing story and film.  "Tape" is a thinking persons film, if you are looking for something cerebral this is a great choice, if you want lots of bangs and action look elsewhere.