2ndclepunkbuddha

Today something brought me back to a movie that I had not thought of in many years.  It's strange how that goes, when you find something in a hidden corner or something that was in plain sight for a long time and you just never thought to look in that cranny or see it for what it is or isn't.  Today on Netflix I decided to give The Dark Crystal a looksee, since the last time I saw it was probably twenty some years ago.  I had just done a Star Wars marathon of the first and middle trilogies the week before, it's funny to see how the older movies like the middle trilogy as well as The Dark Crystal are considered "dirty movies" now.  Not dirty in the fact that they are X rated, but that technology did not exist as it does today with computer graphics programs, animation was still drawn and recorded somewhat by hand, and every creature was a puppet on wires or by remote control, or in some extreme situations it would have to be a little person dressed up in a costum...

It's now the end of the year, and it is once again time to wax poetic and reflect on the lessons of this past year.  2014 had its ups and downs as most recent years have been, but unlike last year, I face the new year with more hope than the last year brought me and all of us. The biggest accomplishments of this year were in educational, professional and artistic achievements.  I finally finished the degree and made it through the machine of CSU.  It was a rough road, one that I did not anticipate would be as such but I learned as everyone else does when they start down the path.  The last two classes were taken, the last assignments were graded and submitted, and, at last, the degree was earned.  It's easy to see why it is that people drop out of the place because they make it so hard for you to actually graduate from the institution, you get so frustrated with the changing and the nagging.  If there is one thing I can tell anyone out there who is curre...

The day had at last come for me to once again to do my part for the film.  The director, cast and crew had been working diligently despite all the slings and arrows to make it happen, all were dedicated and the ones who had proven themselves unreliable had long since disappeared.  I arrived at the art school a few weeks ago to do the first phase of the bit agreed upon.  Here the camera was rigged onto a platform where I was to be on display.  Still photographs as well were displayed on the secret Facebook page, and I allowed two of them to be published.  In one I was covered in a makeshift sheet / kimono, in the other I was hidden behind the snapping board that the crew uses to announce takes and reel numbers.  This time, however, I was in a more obvious situation.  I took everything off and put on a robe and flip flops, as did J.  We were to be models in an art class, sitting upon a platform on the second floor.  J laid back so we were ...

Earlier today, I regret to inform, a member of the tribe past was lost.  Mary Campbell Nir was a truly wonderful person, and that's not just nostalgia talking either.  I knew her when she was a kid, but her qualities were felt and enhanced as she went towards adulthood.  Not even the most talented of writers of trashy books or soap operas could have come up with her life story, and her story should be remembered. Mary was an adopted child.  If this story about her adoption and discovery is true or if some of this is myth and legend, perhaps, but this was the story I was told.  Baby Mary was found in the back of a church in a laundry basket somewhere on the west side of Cleveland one day in 1978 (or thereabouts).  The only documentation about her birth came in the form of a hand written note from her birth mother, explaining how and why this came to be.  According to the fabled note, Mary's birth mother and father were college students who were no lon...

During this past year, I was taken out to a few comedy nights to see amateur stand up comedians perform their acts before an audience.  I fully admit, this was never something that I had patronized in the past, but these experiences left me with a sense of what comedy really is.  Like the tragic and happy masks that are the symbol of theater, this went into these realms.  In all happiness is sadness, and all sadness is happiness.  Yin and yang.  The first few rounds definitely had their share of sadness.  We were in the basement of a building which doubled as a bowling alley / rock club with chairs assembled around a makeshift stage.  Here the amateur, hipster comics would step onto the dimly lit stage, depending on their height would be brushing an air duct pipe with their heads, and entertain the modest group before them.  As they were amateurs, their material was not delivered the best way possible, and more often then not their efforts we...

It's now been several weeks since starting my teaching career officially.  While the experience has had just about a million and one stories and personal growth factors, far too many to be named in this meager medium with the right amount of description, one thing that is certainly different since my day is this aspect of Character Building.  With the kindergarteners it's easy, since there is a great amount of Social Vocabulary and Life Skills which are to be built with kids that young.  Upon chatting with the kindergarten teachers about exactly what they do in the first few weeks or days, their primary concern with kids that young is to teach them social skills.  Here we watch cartoon videos who are performing basic interactions of greetings, handshakes and saying "Nice to meet you.  My name is Bob."  From there, I always assumed that the basic interactions would be said and done with.  Not true.  From first until eleventh grade (as the place whe...

Slowly but surely the movie is coming to fruition after a variety of set backs.  Everyone involved is working hard as their schedules and finances permit.  I knew that the director would one day call out of the blue and say "today's the day" and I would be off to the studio.  Fortunately I am in a position where my schedule will be fairly flexible and free for the next few weeks until I go back to work, so this is not a problem.  And since I am free like the bird, I will help in the causes around me and not make excuses for not doing said things.  I got notice from the director that the big day was coming to include me all of a sudden tomorrow.  However, I did not check my email until about 2 in the morning.  Oh no, tomorrow?!  Timing and scheduling was not a problem, I was free and able to be with them as long as possible with whatever needed to be done and I was willing.  It just so happened I had a problem with my presentation. When I ar...