W.T.F. international

The Sun is Rising

2011-11-13T06:21:00.001-05:00

November the 13th. 6:21 in the morning, at least according to the digital clock which, disenchanted, glares at me from the bottom left-hand corner of my computer monitor. It's wondering why I'm up so late.

The sky is just beginning to turn a subtle shade of blue, as the sun rises over the sleepy streets of the ever-unslumbering cityscape. I feel a sense of hope for things to come, and those things which, regardless of my hopes, will come. It's a gentle sort of inevitability, this sensation of mine; gentle as the subtle shade of blue, bluer and bluer, the sky is becoming, as the sun makes its way across the horizon.

To do Good one must eliminate fear, habituation, the easy, cowardly manner which is all to easy to fall into in the process of living ones life. We have the proclivities of both the Good and the Ill, the hard and the easy paths. But if the aim of our life is joy, and the deepest gratification is that of doing what is Just, we have no choice but to relinquish choice, and fully embrace the determined course of Virtuous behavior.

My mind slowly becomes illuminated with every step I take along the path of perfect action, but faith must be the bricks laid upon which I walk, before I can dwell assuredly in the realm of perfect knowledge. Faith and Hope are great consolations, infinitely deep. They carry the water of our actions from the wellsprings of our mind, onto the soil of our worlds, bearing the fruits of our eternal Happiness.

As I write these words I propagate the beliefs, send forth the action. And yet all this is just the simple action of turning the handle of the front door to one's home. The journey that lies before you is vast and wondrous, utterly beyond comprehension. It is with deepest trust that we know that it is better to begin this adventure of life than to remain indoors, and further we find the paths we must take to come home again.

Hopefully I will be writing more. Hopefully I will become facile enough to express exactly what I feel, and virtuous enough that the feelings present have a reason to be heard. A greater cause for which they should be expressed. My causes abound. Words form on the tip of my tongue, my hands long commotion, my feet space on which to tread, my mind the canvas of the new dawn, already begun, the spectrum of this Artist's pallet filling the morning sky.

Madness to the Method

2011-08-08T02:36:00.001-04:00

I have to say nothing. But what is it that I want to say? What is it that anyone wants, essentially, to say? I believe at all times we long for the catharsis of admitting all of our faults, vices, sins, and being accepted for who we are.

Or at least we desire to be unencumbered by the duress of an inorganic, untruthful existence. Fetter, fetter, fetter.

Acting is my home; a home which, over the past 9 months, I have been rebuilding from the bottom up. I was secure and comfortable in this home, but looking on in from the outside, I can see clearly now that it had been resting on a fault line.

The workers alongside whom I find myself in constant, arduous labour, are sometimes slovenly, infrequently passionate, and always find time to gossip. That being said, they are good people, often great actors, and thrilling to work with. Our teachers, who instruct us on the dimensions and composition of the structure always have a useful word to impart, yet rarely is it that they are without contradiction amongst themselves.

I find myself not the least bit discouraged. Never do we take part of all the good, or all the bad. We are people, who people this planet. Not goodly gods, or evil devils. I rank myself among the worst and best of mankind everyday.

There is a glimmer of hope in the founding of this house that I call Acting: the voice of the sage, whose virtue it was to speak the truth, live, teach, feel organically, whose timbre reverberates through time - his voice, with the clarity of day, gives me the strength to choose my course a'right, and the guidance to build my house strong, secure.

The summer sun beats down strong, and the weak are often no match for its rays. Workers tire, perspiring hard, finding rest before the job is done. Youth is wasted on the young, while the wise wizen, attempting to yield the summer crop to those who could, but would not sup.

Ego engulfs the Artist. Mortality, the man. Betrayal, Friendship. Resentment, Love. Fear, all but those who love. Despair, all those without friends. Mortality takes everyone but those who are true Artists, who live forever.

Ah, the parallel is now dropped. I have little else to say but this -

Two parallel lines move through both time and space; it is not that they will never intersect, but that they will wait patiently to do so until the laws of Euclid have been overturned.

The Method, as taught and perfected by Lee Strasberg lives as long as his students of generations to come live for the day, love artistry, and worship the forms.

Too Many People are Grasping at Straws

2011-06-16T23:56:00.001-04:00

"You have to relax into it."
Think of the one thing that is most important to you, and then compare that thing to what has been, or what seems to have been, the one thing that your parents, friends, teachers, peers, told you, again and again.

There's not enough momentum to get done all the things that people want to get done, but it's not a question of momentum.

We can talk about our desires, our dreams, or just our thoughts and feelings as components of our "Will." it's fairly vague and unscientific, but it's practical. Likewise we say that the things we get done are projections, manifestations, or the actualizations of our Will.

The reason we can't do all the things we want to do, why not all the Will can be actualized or achieved, is because it would be a contradiction. The Will is made up just of much as what we achieve as it is what we fail to achieve. Without failure, there is no Will.

"Sit up straight. Don't fidget."

A lot of people in this era, whatever this "era" is, are unhappy. Let me stress, it's not about the era, it's not about happiness.
Maybe it's not about anything, in which case people are just trying to hard.

Indignation of the Warblers

2011-06-15T23:02:00.001-04:00

"..gahhhh..," his moan carries into the microphone, over the balding heads of blank expressions, through the corridor, out the door, and pans the night sky, the drunken marionettes ambling aimlessly cross cobblestone.

"I try not to think. But I oftentimes find myself failing."

Abysmal. Simply abysmal. And bleak. What once were blank expressions were seemingly transformed into contortions of disgust and despair. He had had better crowds on previous evenings. It was as though they all abandoned him, picking up like straws in the wind - now all that was left was the refuse of the early morning ("customers"), the sweep, and the barkeep.

He tried again, his fingers desperately groping the throat of the mic, perspiring, the words clutching with fervor the back of his larynx.

"I know. There was this man, see, he was my da..."

But it was of no use, the lights had gone out, the day began, and people forget where they've been.

I'm a CANCER, Goddamnit

2011-03-01T18:05:00.003-05:00

Okay, so the Zodiac crises is old news - sue me if I'm late to the game in the 21st century.
The information technological era puts a lot of performance pressure on people, you know?

My side of the story, or rather my interpretation of what the actual crises consists of, is through questioning how as humans we come to identify so closely, and so fastidiously, with larger groupings, the origins of which can either appear, at a glance, obviously meaningful, or rather superficial.

Take for example, race, religion, or cultural background. For those types of identification there is history, tradition, and character types that over time develop, creating methods of relating between individuals. So clearly that, in world where like begets like, two people can identify with each other, and create a lasting and potent relationship based on the underlying similarities in grouping. I'm not questioning that- I may later on, or have already (I so often lose track) question the social repercussions of grouping in such a way, and whether it causes more harm than good, but I'm not doubting the naturalness of this tendency.

But what about those types of group identification, the causes of which aren't so immediately apparent? Like astrological sign? Handedness? University?

People often use groups as an excuse, rather than a rational justification, of propelling themselves forward, whether it is for their emotional and psychological security, or social advancement.

Anyway, it's something to think about. The real reason for this post however has nothing to do with the fact that I'm now referred to as a Gemini (however much I do or don't resent that), but the fact that I would like to reconsider my evaluation of the transformative changes on the mind and human behavior that the info-tech age has to offer. Okay, maybe it doesn't have "nothing" to do with it.

The internet, facebook, twitter, CNN.com, online media, instant communications, social networking in general, is how we identify with and towards one another, how we communicate, how we relate, as well as broadening the impact of our actions. This can be a horrible thing, when used improperly, or even used at all without proper reflection. But it can also be a great thing.

A reflection of this social phenomenon is what's to be seen currently in the middle east. After over 30 years in some cases, many tyrannical despots are being deposed - not by American interventionism, not by Al Qaeda, who have tried to do the same - but there own people, in the continual swing of the dialectical pendulum towards liberty, hastened at a remarkable rate by these social media.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, many new social theories developed, filling the void that came into being in the absence of the assumed dualism of "us, versus them" dialogue. Some thought that now was the inevitable, and long awaited victory of the democratic republic, others thought that the antagonists role would be filled by the middle east, and religious fundamentalism, rather than the more secular, but equally radical communist agenda.

Maybe what we need to realize it's now the networking, and instant socializing (and I mean that as a-politically as possible) that will determine the schema of how people behave, what form government takes, and how people think and feel towards one another.

Reagan, now much celebrated in political discourse and rhetoric, mostly by politicians who desire being elected, was really good at two things: acting, and acting. However, the consequence of his bravado was a far reaching division in this country between classes, and now a widespread fear of the government's social agenda since FDR. The lasting effect that President Reagan had over both political and economic discourse may about to become a thing of the past, along with many other social theories and ways of explaining political and economic behavior, as the supremacy of the individual continues on its course towards an achievement, the likes of which the world has never, ever ever, seen before.

Now here's the question my unconscious has been begging to pose since I turned on my computer this morning - once the internet, or the users, take to the fray after achieving the purest sense of freedom and individual liberty that man can achieve, in full and complete control and anonymity, will they fairly represent themselves, or will they be nothing more than a hive mind, of the same associations and group identifications that have both served and plagued man since he was tricked, in the Rousseau's parable, into entering into Society.

Regarding Facebook, and the Mindless Masses

2011-02-10T22:21:00.002-05:00

I believe I just sent out a status update to everyone, yes, EVERYONE.

What's the value in that, I ask you? I clearly don't know everyone. Not everyone knows me.
I'm just not that popular... yet... (muahahaha) And unless this is some kind of, Zuckerberg needing friends ploy, I'm just not buying into that. (I also didn't buy into that aspect of the Social Network, in spite of it being a remarkably good film, I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg has friends - heaps and heaps of friends --- subtle? I don't aim to be.)

So what is my point exactly? My point is in this consumer-driven age, after reaching a pinnacle of self-knowledge and development as a global society, in which the individual is made the ultimate aim, couldn't we have done better?

The individual is now liberated, in the 21st century, to buy, sell, make, destroy, and yet we're still the mindless masses of yesteryear. Shouldn't we be expected to be at least slightly more.. I don't know, what's the word, Moral?

I'm sure you're all wondering how morality got involved. Knowing all of you (which I don't), I'm sure you all firmly hold "morality," to be an entirely antiquated word that's been supersceded by relativism. Well, I don't buy into that.

While I'm all for subjectivity of opinion and belief, and that I don't think that moral notions should be dominated by right or left leaning institutions, I certainly don't think that individuals on their own would ever come up with such an abominably mindless system as that of the moral consumer-capitalism. No, I think the institutions have just changed hands.

My point really, if I have one, is that somewhere along the line we reached a threshold of individually based moral thinking, maybe with Kant, or maybe I just like saying Kant, but who doesn't? somewhere in the Enlightenment era, and once we incorporated that into daily life and came out with heavy industry, we just fundamentally reverted as people. Does that make sense? Is it conceivable? I don't know.

All I know really is that I had better friendships, and miraculously still maintain those friendships, before facebook, and hope to do so afterwards. And Morality shouldn't be derived from the hive-mind, but your own rational centers of goodiness. That's pretty much it.

NZ.

People talk about the superficiality existence

2010-04-03T02:02:00.004-04:00

People are full of shit.

Descartes, on the other hand, assessed what we could legitimately know through a rule of evidence based around clear and distinct perception. Many erudite scholars have similarly argued that this particular French Rationalist freethinker was full of shit.

Step 1. Cogito, ergo sum - Thought, therefore being. Je pense, donc je suis - I think therefore I am. This, I'll admit is an over simplification of things, or at least a skipping of a great many steps. This is what Descartes goes onto affirm that he definitively knows after he rules out, via a method of reasonable doubt, virtually everything else we hold to be self evident. I.e. our bodies, everything we physically perceive, and yes, even death and taxes.

Step 2. After establishing that we are thinking things, Descartes comes up with the "brilliant" inference that he has perceived this through, and solely through a faculty which he refers to as "clear and distinct perception."

Step 3. Having reasoned that he has intuited this knowledge through C&DP, and solely through C&DP, he decides that this faculty cannot be in anyway fallible.

Step 4. His aware winning, and astoundingly genius conclusion - that whatever he perceives clearly and distinctly is "True."

Now, what is true you ask? I ask myself that very same question every time I wake up in the morning; eat bacon; turn on /off the lights; breathe in the sweet smelling sulphur we call reality. Is Descartes referring to a greater, objective, "metaphysical" truth? Something that exists definitely beyond the realm of subjective perception? Does he merely mean that clear and distinct perception leads to that which is sound, logical, and that which has no part untrustworthy?

People talk about the superficiality of existence. Of existing. Of staking your claim in the world when you can honestly never know, or prove to know anything or prove to know that your knowledge or the means by which you know is valid. The Cartesian rule of evidence is flawed - it is circular. Descartes claims to legitimize his own rule of evidence, his own method of recognizing reality in the world, by that very self same methods. However, don't we as people live our lives, and justify our lives by our lives themselves? We are fools, running around in a Cartesian circle, living out the superficiality of existence.

Clarification:

2010-03-29T11:50:00.002-04:00

I do not own copyright to the image used in the previous post. For all intents and purposes, I shall assume public domain, and continue my life, as usual, until informed otherwise.

I was bored, so I decided to exist

2010-03-29T11:25:00.007-04:00

one must sometimes speculate that this is in fact how everything, or at least what we perceive to be everything, began.

I mean otherwise what do you have? you have incoherence; people wandering around looking for potential meaning, when the sheer simplicity of the answer stands right before their eyes: that which was nothing, composed of nothing, and moving towards nothing, was filled with such ennui was we have all experienced that it decided to pull itself up and make something of itself. And do we lend it our support? No, we just berate it with endless trivial questions of "why," and "how." never a "good job" or "well done" for the universe, or even existence- the most astounding achievement in, well, existence.

Why must we egg on about the mysteries of being qua being? Here's a suggestion - how bout we contemplate being qua shut the fuck up! It's simply an exercise in futility to question or attempt to explain that which we do not have the faculty to adequately comprehend, if any such faculty could exist. So then you ask what the point of living is? Go see Greenberg. Not that a Noah Baumbauch film will ever tell you the meaning of life, it's just a general request. You decide for yourself whether it is an admirable film.

If that doesn't suit your needs, try eating a jar of Spam. Apparently Monty Python did it, and they're hilarious! (for those of you who do not agree, I fail to care) Alternatively, you can swim with dolphins. I hear its rather therapeutic and spiritually awakening, and the nice thing about dolphins is, unlike my ex-wife, they won't bite your head off! Just kidding, I've not yet been married.

But seriously, don't club baby seals.