Sarah Chalke

See this interview with the wondrous Sarah Chalke.
(From Scrubs. A wonderful comedy show, and one of the modern kind with one camera and no audience laughing.)
Take care to note her excellent way of handling touchy questions by answering them but not answering them. Well done, Sarah.

Praise and criticism

The question was raised in comments to the last post if it is a bad thing to take your self worth from the outside. From admiration by others in other words.

Well, on the one hand, if you really don't take it seriously, a bit of pleasure is a bit of pleasure. On the other hand, if you take it seriously you're in trouble. You will spend your time angling for praise and admiration.
If your self worth comes from within, you'll never run out of it.
And it's the only real thing anyway.

Update: Ooh, I just had a realization: it is impossible to only let yourself be affected by praise, and not by criticism. They are two sides of the same coin (named Other People's Opinions). You can't take just one side, you take the whole coin or nothing. I suspect "nothing" is the wiser choice here.

I was disappointed when John Travolta, such a hugely talented actor, told in an interview how much stock he put into getting an Oscar. He's had two nominations only so far, and there were seventeen years between them. And he said he'd been struck by a deeply depressing thought: what if there were seventeen years until the next nomination too? *
Come on, John, be a man! Tell Oscar to go frig himself. You live for yourself and your art!

Much better is David Bowie's attitude. An interviewer asked him what he'd think if he was given a knighthood like Elton John was. He said that he'd tell the queen to give it to somebody who cared. Good man.

* The fact that John did not see how this looks, tells us how all of Hollywood is totally in the thrall of the Oscars and public praise. Johnny Depp is one of the exceptions, along with Sean Penn and a few others.
Also, I think it now has been over a decade since that interview (I think it was after Pulp Fiction). How's it going, John? How about just making good movies?

"Magic dust"

One of my oldest Internet-friends, Carter, introduced me to the term "magic dust". He uses that to mean the phenomenon of being uplifted by the beauty of some woman he sees.
"And I am the one giving her that girl power, the wow factor. I call it magic dust, I carry a supply and sometimes dump it on the young woman and then marvel at how she sparkles and shines.
"... Magic dust is a way of saying that I give the woman the power to affect me and that other men may have no interest at all. She is the same, it is me giving her the power."

How true. And funny how I recently (I'm now reminded) suddenly realized this myself. To my horror, I think. But should it be? I mean if we are doing it all ourselves, then that would mean that if we learn to control it, we can uplift ourselves any time we want.
Probably the same principle applies to all life's areas.

Update: Ha, I just remembered many years ago, I was sitting with a pal in Florida, when a stunning Asian-American woman walked past. Absolutely gorgeous. And she had on a very small and thin tee-shirt...
After she had passed, my friend turned to me and said: "Did you see that?! That's what makes a man do unethical things out here!"

Me at 15

Here is me at fifteen. Wasn't I cute?
Photo courtesy of my cousin Annette. Hi Annette.

Abe

Pascal invented the Abraham Lincoln smiley:

=|:-)))

"The Secret"

Free online film, "The Secret". Just one of many films and books these days who teach you that you get what you focus on or think about. Though the intro is a bit over-dramatic and money-oriented, it does it well though, what I've seen so far.
The film is very "American" in style, meaning very slick and flash, with enthusiastic people talking in soft and melodious voices in a very sincere way. It looks like a commercial. Still it works.

Another good one in the genre is What The Bleep Do We Know.

Lucid Twilight said...

The video seems to be down. No surprise- it's technically not supposed to be free. ;)

Though I do wonder why they'd care as I'm assuming it's the original version. It's not like they're making profit off of that anymore and I would think spreading the word is the important thing. Ah well...

People who've seen it (or haven't but are still interested) might like to know that some of the people in the film have been on Larry King Live and will be again on the 16th. The first part was aired earlier this month and is supposed to be repeated on the 11th. The second part is set to air on the 16th.

If you'd like to watch the new version of the film legitimately, it can be found at: http://www.thesecret.tv

It's five dollars to view it online through the site. Not as good a deal as google video, but at least it's in higher quality. Er, assuming you've got the connection for it.

I would agree with Eolake on his criticisms, but it's still a well done film that does an excellent job of introducing people to the potentials of thought.

Watermen

I just found this old photo of mine.
I think I took in on a compact 35mm camera, but unlike me I can't remember which.
Incidentally, the guy on the left is this guy (the friend who told me about his colleague).

New paintings

Aaaaall right, I guess it is time to post photos of my recent paintings. The first ones in more than 12 years!
Please click on them for larger view. Even so, be aware that they should ideally be seen live, since they incorporate thick paint, textures, imbedded objects, and wrap-around-the-frame. They are 60cm X 60cm. And 5cm deep. Acrylics on canvas.

Illusions

Lucid commented:
So long as we blame others for what we see in the world the fighting can never stop. Responsibility must be taken on an individual level and we must deal with our own demons if others are to be reformed. I believe I've stated before that to see change we must embody the change we wish to see. Absolutely nothing we try can ever work until we cease denying that the images we see are the reflection of our own selves.

It is something which is becoming more and more evident to many people, including me. It is not an easy lesson to learn. When "somebody else" does evil, of course "somebody else" is to be blamed. The desire to punish is worse, I believe, but even just the blame and judgement of this "other" is a trap.
I am currently reading The Disappearance Of The Universe, which is a very unusual book in this area. It goes beyond just handling the world, and aims for Salvation, and attempts to solve the issues of how and why did we separate from God, and what to do about it? Can we have both God and the world? Can we have both God and an ego?
To say this is advanced stuff is no exaggeration! It's like Buzz Lightyear's battle cry: "To Infinity, and beyond!"

TV

Imagine what it would be like if TV actually were good. It would be the end of everything we know.
-- Marvin Minsky

The end is nigh.
TV is now good. Like I have said a few times, I believe we are now in the golden age of TV. Shows like The Sopranos and Gilmore Girls are as good as I can imagine them. Funny, consistent, gripping, well written, realistic, beautifully acted, perfectly filmed...

TidBITS e-books

TidBITS has a 50% off sale on their excellent small "Take Control" e-books.

Spanglish

"Honey, lately your low self-esteem is just good common sense."

"So tell me again why I can't call him again?"
"Besides his cell phone being turned off?"
"Yeah."
"Forty messages start to look needy."

That's from the movie Spanglish, which to my delight is rather more than Just Another Silly Sandler comedy. It's delightful, actually. Sandler is subtle as the cook. Tea Leoni is great as the poster girl for High Strung Wife in SUV. And the kids are awesome. I keep telling you, it is indicative of rising human awareness how child and teen actors keep reaching new levels of power.

That reminds me, I meant to mention MirrorMask, Neal Gaiman's and Dave Mckean's fantasy film. It is a family film, and the story did not glue me to the LCD screen, but the visuals are fantastic, and so is the acting, particularly the lead, Stephanie Leonidas as Helena. Both subtle and powerful.

BTW, this pisses me off about the film industry (and MirrorMask is not even a Hollywood picture): when the lead is a child or teen actor, he/she does not get first billing as she would if she was an adult! For shame!