Thoughtful Preparations: Media Spin Blog

What is Utopia? Is a perfect place possible in this imperfect world? If we had an island paradise, could we all get along and make it work out in a utopian way?

I live in a nice place high up in the Northern California hills. It could be Utopia, except for local motorcyclists who love to rev it up, throttling and growling their motors, sputtering mindless enhanced exhaust for miles around. Perhaps for them it is Utopia, but for me, engine noise is a brutal spell breaker. And I don’t get to play golf as often as I’d like. The ocean water is too cold for swimming, there’s too much traffic and the cost of living is too high. These things get in the way of my Utopia!

Alternative lifestyle communities need rules and leadership. They are often condemned with cynicism and sarcasm by jealous, weary victims of suburban commuting. Yes, there are the legacies of The Jonestown Massacre, The Branch Davidians, and many more groups who have tried to create happy places of their own. Brokeback Mountain‘s major theme was whether or not to break away from everyday society and attempt to shape a personal utopian life. After all, the American Declaration of Independence places life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as unalienable rights endowed by our Creator. Not trivial stuff!

I recently stumbled across a New Yorker article published a few months ago about Boykin Curry and friends founding Playa Grande, a Utopian community in the Domican Republic. Call me shallow, but I think it is a grand idea and I’m ready to pack my bags. I just hope Boykin is not a Harley freak.

What is the fuss about 666? It is a reference taken from the last chapter of the New Testament of the Bible, The Book of Revelation. This book is thought to have been written almost 100 years after the death of Jesus of Nazareth by a Christian from Ephesus known as “John the Elder.” The exact line referring to “666” is Revelation, Chapter 13, Verse 18,

“Wisdom is needed here; one who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

It appears that the author is referring to a person, perhaps in a political context. Scholars have theorized it he may be the Roman emporer Caesar Nero. Beyond that, the Book of Revelation in my humble opinion is a strange and unimportant appendage to the Bible that has given rise to many imaginative interpretations and cults that are far removed from the core teachings of Christianity.

OK, I accept that for awhile now the USA has been a country on steroids, no matter how much in denial we might be about it. Look no further than the rise of Rockstar, Red Bull and Monster energy drinks. A nation of pumped up mutants worshiping bigger pumped up mutants.

So, it is no surprise that the mini-mutants must check out the top professional mutants in X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Setting a Memorial Day Weekend record of $120 Million X-Men 3 has some mutant legs. Here’s what our mutant reviewers have to say:

“OMG X3 AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

*falls over, dies of the absolute awesomeness of the movie and the anticipation for the next one*” – gooshgoo

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“And Angel. Oh Angel – he who only had 5 lines. I was expecting much, much more from this movie. I was expecting a love triangle damnit! Between Iceman/Kitty/Angel. And what did we get? Angel…just there, almost useless. An even softer Iceman. Kitty was fine, I did like her. Especially her scene with Juggernaut.

And the ending! This really can’t be the last in the trilogy. Damnit, I hate open endings.

Hate to compare but MI:3 was so much better than X-Men: The Last Stand. And I don’t *even* like Tom “Cuckoo” Cruise.” – _generik

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“in other news.. I have seen the greatest. fucking. movie. ever.

And that is X-Men 3. I KID YOU NOT. This movie will change your life. Or at least, it did mine. It was so much different than the first two. If anyone of you other nerds out there have read the comic books, it’s more like them. It was dark, and a shit load of people died. Yeah, I mean died. As in, not in the soap-opera way in which they magically come back to life. I mean, they’re dead as a damn door nail. You’ll see.

YOU’LL ALL SEE.” – Cogitation

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“To rant a tiny bit more… what was up with the love triangle sub-plot and the lesson it teaches? If your boyfriend is attracted to someone who posesses an attribute you don’t… get it fixed and he’ll love you again! I know there was some attempt to say that she did it for herself, but that’s not at all how it appeared when all was said and done.” – daemonwolf

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“Just about every acting job by the mutant bad guys sucked. The throw away mutant characters were lame and felt just like “filler”.

But I was surprised at the language in the movie. There were a few “shits” at least one “bullshit” a couple “bitches” and one “Dickhead” — and THAT is where I sort of have a problem with the movie.” – Yirmumah

You see? People do have minds of their own!

If you are a commuter by car, rail or any other means, there are many chance moments after leaving your home and entering the myriad world of random people. You enter a mixture of their goals, concerns and pressures, and you hope their problems will not spill over onto yours. Such as when driving to the train station this morning and a lady passed me in a sleek black car steering while balancing a bowl of cereal in her free hand. Here’s an answer for a question I frequently ask myself, “Why do so many drivers not make turn signals?”

Riding the BART, when I hear a cell phoner bitching loudly about her problems, as if the entire car needs to know, I move to another seat out of ear shot. Ear plugs or iPods just don’t solve the problem entirely. Attempts to remain aloof and nonjudgemental are a great mental exercise, but ultimately you’re enduring a funky cell mate for the ride.

So, it is no shock that a video on YouTube.com “Bus Uncle” has grown very popular, since it captures this kind of commuter interaction and confrontation Hong Kong style. The angry uncle yells, “I face pressure! You face pressure!” and rap versions have sprouted forth. And for an encore here’s Billy Joel’s music video, “Pressure.” Happy travels and get home safely.

One of the best things about The Da Vinci Code book and now movie, is that it stirs up a lot of thought and talk, and not necessarily both.

Here are my favorite weekend reviews from the blogosphere:

“Not the worst movie that I have ever seen, but it’s no Deuce Bigalo either! I would give it amybe a 4 or 5out of 10 rating.” – blog of kenny on MySpace.com

“The movie’s going too fast….Teabing skipped the part about the knife and that extra hand.” – blog of Liyana at MySpace.com.

“Was doing fine with it ’til i showed up at church today and guess what the sermon was over???? i almost walked out.. that’s my rant for now.” – Myspace blog of Steven

“The Da Vinci Code (subtitled “A Carpenter Humped a Prostitute)…seriously, is everyone stuck on this crap or what? This movie is gonna become the Napoleon Dynamite of paranoid God fearing types…” – MySpace blog of Jason

“Went to see the Da Vinci code with amy and had breakfast at ihop. Breakfast was awesome, the movie, not so much.” – MySpace blog of Clyde,

These entries were all found by running a tag search on Technorati, so it is really a surprise to see the heavy rankings of so many Myspace.com blogs. This is a new disruption within the blogosphere!

As a kid my family had a big old house out on Shelter Island where we would spend a few weeks in the summertime. These were barefoot and sandy days. There were fantastic memories left there, riding the ferry to Greenport, fishing for flounder and blowfish, the old soda fountain up at Shelter Island Heights, Dering Harbor, Louie’s Beach, and the slow pace of it all.

Times have changed, and people want to get out to Shelter Island faster, thus the birth of SIBTA: Shelter Island Bridge & Tunnel Authority. This is a bold EZ Path to the future. I hope it does not ruin the old charm of the Shelter Island I once knew.

See The New Yorker article about SIBTA for more detailed authoritative information.

Looks like something different from DreamWorks. Shrek was born from a strong counter-culture bent, and Over The Hedge appears to follow this spirit too.

Beware of Captain Spamheart’s jabbering beefcakes, the shiny beasts of thought! They’re out there. Little Captain Beefheart Trekkie types who discuss WWBD… What Would Beefheart Do?

It’s all at Fireparty, the next best thing to spam, a Beefheart e-mail list server.

Important topics such as whether or not The Beatles and Rolling Stones are up to Beefheartian snuff, music that Beefheart fans like, and does Beefheart give a shit? are all discussed. As Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) said, “Someone’s had too much to think!”

Some interesting news does get disseminated, such as bootlegs and a recent Swedish TV interview and performances by Frank Zappa band member Denny Walley and Magic Band members Drumbo, Rockette Morton and Gary Lucas.