Changing Places, Losing Time

The concept of time has always been relative. Whether you’re having the time of your life or bored to death, time can fly by or beg to be killed. Time is so fluid, it can be changed at whim, by any moron in power. The former Bush administration managed to get me up an hour earlier weeks in advance of when daylight savings was suppose to be, a time established back when American farmer’s planted crops in season. There are those who argue against the notion that there is a past or future time; there is only now. Differing philosophies aside, change (painfully slow or quite suddenly,) can only happen in time. Change is measured against the wheel of time, by comparing what was with what is. Yet, the essence of what matters – the nature of man – remains constant through time. There are no new stories, only new players acting out the same conflicts that have plagued humanity since before stories were told. 

Place, however, is precise. Our experience of a certain place may b... more

“Reception in a state of distraction”: Mindfulness and Media.

 

What is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more.                 - Susan Sontag

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The Fallen Nature

There is a part of me that revels in stories about the fall of prideful men. It is no small consolation to witness the cocky jock humbly serving the geeky goof he used to torment. This smugness is not vindictive, rather mere appreciation for any account that righteously scores one for the underdog. Not often told, however, are tales of humble men who rise to power and are then challenged to remain true to their character. Such narratives are discomforting. On one hand, we want humble men in higher positions so that their righteousness might be wielded against corruption, and yet we are aware, whether consciously or instinctually, that no man is righteous; no, not one. The setup creates apprehension; we fear for the humble man, worry he will fall. Pride is a powerful adversary. In the film Takva: A Man’s Fear of God, I found myself grow increasingly concerned for Muharrem, a simple man called to face this tempting power. 

Muharrem is a devout Muslim, ... more

Sampat Pal Devi sings the blues

The only thing they seem to have in common is their look: long black hair and a bright pink dress.
And destiny, too: because, if Sita – the holy wife of Sri Rama – is undoubtedly a deity, Sampat Pal Devi (“goddess”)’s name imposes a sort of duty on her, too.

But if the former has always been a metaphor for womanly perfection, the latter could arouse some suspicions. Despite her pink sari, in fact, Sampat Pal is anything but docile.

The daughter of a shepherd, married off to an ice cream vendor at the age of eleven and mother of five, Sampat Pal Devi has never stopped fighting and is not used to defeats.

She started when she was a little girl: she wanted to go to school like her brothers and, since her family wouldn’t let her, she would teach herself how to read and write, gleaning information from the boys who attended school and practicing on her house’s walls and floor a... more

Vox Populi

“Remember, remember the fifth of November, the gun powder, treason, and plot.  I know of no reason the gun powder treason should ever be forgot.” The tag-line of V for Vendetta stirs the patriotism of the individual whose sense of duty, though not impenetrable to fear, remains rooted in the power of people united. Vendetta uses striking images and tightly knit dialogue to create a masterpiece for its viewers that not only draws you in, but conveys a intuitive parallel with our own political climate. 

V, a well-spoken masked vigilante, devises a year-long plot ... more

Sounds of Silence

The human ear can only hear a limited part of the sound spectrum. Above that range is ultrasound and below it is infrasound. Although largely unheard, vibrations in these ranges can still affect the human body in ways that are quite different from the informational aspect of simply listening. These higher and lower registers of sound frequencies are, today, the stuff of imaginative speculation. While the conspiracy watchers believe they are the basis of secret weapons research for covert operations, mind control and other conspiratorial uses, another, more idealistic, school associates them with meditative states and magical technology.

Sound is a waveform, with low infrasonic frequencies having a long wavelength that can cover great distances, and with high ultrasonic frequencies having a short wave length. The medical profession, chiefly for diagnostic imaging, employs ultrasound most usefully. Both ultrasound and infrasound are inaudible to humans but can, on occasion, be f... more

The Short and Sweet of Simple

Nowhere is it written that God must answer our questions, and yet any person who seeks to understand life must wonder, “Why does He make us feel the questions if He’s not going to give us any answers?” This may be the ultimate theological question, asked by Larry Gopnik, a Jewish physics professor who is courageously trying to hold on to his sanity as God rips apart his 1960s Minnesota suburban life in the film A Serious Man. First, I must admit that this is not the type of film I usually pay to see. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man is one I might view by chance a year or two after its original release. It would be a pleasant discovery checked out at the library that avails a treasury of films from the odd and outrageous to the dark and daunting. Though often perplexing, I prefer the independent films, those that seem to intentionally end abruptly without any sense of closure or peace. I am not suggesting that I get some sadistic pleasure in witnessing u... more

Terrible Beauty

I grew up by the sea, so close I could taste the salt of her sweat in every breath. The Pacific coast cradled my childhood and early adolescence, easing many moments of melancholy. I learned early to respect her like a good mother. She can carry life and take it away in a single wave. Her storms make a Florida hurricane look like a baby shower.  From her I glimpsed God’s nature: awesome power with depths beyond our knowing. The mightiest of men are but grains of sand in comparison. At least with God, all things work together for good to them that love Him.  With the sea, there is no such thing as mercy. I learned her tendency for indiscriminate ruin while walking along the beach: rusted ship beams, massive trees, trunks stripped down to their rings. At the age of nine, I discovered a dead body. A man, topless, pants tattered, lips blue, flies crawling in the corner of his mouth. His lifeless body marked my memory, affirming the number one rule all children from my coastal t... more

The Stuff of Dreams

What is the stuff of dreams? Random flashes of subconscious bric-a-brac, discarded brain bits and pieces? Are they journeys to another plain of existence? Is it the brain’s way of sorting out problems — reaching deeper into our mental capacity to reason and create? The truth is: we really don’t know. How a person might answer any of these questions out of their own personal experience relies heavily on their cultural background and spiritual beliefs. Whether it’s a scientific or spiritual approach to these questions, there is a common thread of agreement: creativity and our dream life are often linked.

The Scientific Explanation: Most dreams take place ... more

Dancing with Dissonance

For years I have fantasized about living off the grid  like my Grandfather and his wife Sonja. The small plot of river rock and mountain terrain up the Rogue River in  Oregon was inherited by Grandpa from my great grandmother. When Grandpa married Sonja, the isolated haven was a small one-room cabin with a covered porch for sleeping and an outhouse. For decades after their union, the two kept each other company while building what is now a three-story estate, an ideal retreat from the world where one can comfortably hide away and disappear into God’s green earth. ... more