Friday, June 30, 2006

Exceptional Talent from Home

Last evening Southern Lens, a South Carolina Educational Television independent film series debuted “Laugh At Us” featuring The Merry Pranksters Theatrical Troupe for the Exceptionally Talented from my hometown of Rock Hill, SC. The film is partially narrated by four time Tony Award winner and Rock Hill native William Ivey Long whose sister, Laura Long is an actor in the troupe. Laura and William’s mother, Mary Long was an institution in her own right and taught drama for many years at Rock Hill High School. Their father, William was a drama professor at Winthrop University in Rock Hill.

The Merry Pranksters are a troupe of 19 special needs actors and performers with various individual challenges and disabilities ranging from autism and Downs Syndrome to the emotional and physical. Laugh At Us is a behind the scene glimpse of the challenges and struggles of this troupe as they work from script to stage in presenting an original full-length comedy.

I can’t tell you how inspiring it was for me to watch these actors laugh, cry and succeed on the stage with loving help from a wonderful and patient director and many, many volunteers without whom the production could not have happened.

The rehearsal portion of the play took place on the same stage I acted and performed on many times while in school. Watching the laughter and angst taking place on stage during rehearsals and backstage; the struggles with doubt and the euphoria of companionship reminded me of the magical setting the theater is, where once in a lifetime experiences unfold bonding friends together for lifetimes, no matter what the individual special needs may be.

Each of us is challenged in some area of our lives- at times it seems much more than these individuals who refused to let anything get in the way of their dreams. And what is the theater except a reflection of life, an unfolding of stories and an agreement between actor and audience (which is which?) to suspend outside belief so we can reach further and be propelled farther than we ever could individually.

It’s a wonderful thing to see local talent make good. The Rock Hill Parks and Recreation Department should feel honored to have a four time Tony Award winner and clothing designer for The Rolling Stones compare their efforts and direction to the best anywhere. My dear friend Karen Collins, an assistant director of several feature films directed and produced the filming of "Laugh At Us" with assistance from another friend, Diane Tennyson. Both are from Rock Hill.

“Laugh at Us,” it has been shown at film festivals, educational institutions and on public television stations across the US. In 2005, the film was nominated by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for awards in three categories of the Midsouth Regional Emmy Awards - best cultural documentary, best directing in non-news, and best editing in non-news.

The stars of the film are 19 Merry Pranksters whose lives will never be quite the same again.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Joan Baez on Singing Out


"To sing is to love and to affirm, to fly and soar, to coast into the hearts of the people who listen, to tell them that life is to live, that love is there, that nothing is a promise, but that beauty exists, and must be hunted for and found. That death is a luxury, better to be romanticized and sung about than dwelt upon in the face of life.

To sing is to praise God and the daffodils, and to praise God is to thank Him, in every note within my small range, and every color in the tones of my voice, with every look into the eyes of my audience, to thank Him. Thank you God, for letting me be born, for giving me eyes to see the daffodils lean in the wind, all my brothers, all my sisters for giving me ears to hear crying, legs to come running, hands to smooth damp hair, a voice to laugh with, and to sing with...to sing to you and the daffodils...which are you." Joan Baez
photo by: J. Gordon Anderson 1969

Monday, June 26, 2006

Lighten up, Ain't nothin' but 'da Blues!







So it's Monday...think you've got it bad? Head on over to Desk Top Blues and lighten up a bit.

You've never had so much fun feelin' blue!

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

A Reminder

Every now and then we need reminders. I know I do. So, here’s a simple “oh, by the way…in case you've forgotten or need reminding…”

…right now, right here in this very moment, however you are feeling and wherever you may be- you are…

…enlightened as you can ever be,
…exactly where you are meant to be,
…perfect as you will ever be,

…there is nowhere to go,
…no one or ‘thing’ to seek,
…nothing is hidden or missing,

…you are perfectly designed,
…abundantly supplied,
…infinitely capable,

…you are loved,
…you are loving,
…you are Love.

Friday, June 16, 2006

U.G. & J. Krishnamurti

I, Me, Mine has a great quote from U.G. Krishnamurti that I stumbled across as a teenager and found fascinating.

"So-called self-realization is the discovery for yourself and by yourself that there is no self to discover. That will be a very shocking thing, I tell you. It's not going to be an easy thing. It's not going to be handed over to you on a gold platter. You have to become completely disillusioned then the truth begins to express itself in its own way. It is useless to try to discover the truth. The search for truth is absurd."

Reading this quote again brings to mind the words of his contemporary, J. Krishnamurti I thought others might appreciate. J. Krishnamurti's words never cease to cast wonder onto whatever spiritual path one is on (for everyone is on a spiritual path) and are reminders that The Journey is everything- and nothing. J. Krishnamurti was born in India in the late 1800's and discovered at age 14 by Theosophists Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater and proclaimed as the "way" for reincarnation of Christ and Buddha. There was much promise resting on young Krishnamurti- but in his early 20's he would have no more to do with it and left the religious sect set up by Besant & Leadbetter proclaiming:

"Truth is a pathless land and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. My only concern is to set humanity absolutely, unconditionally free. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophic knowledge or psychological technique. He has to find it through the understanding of the contents of his own mind, through observation and not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection."

In the late 40's early 50's these two Krishnamurti's began a "dialogue" that was strained at best- but I believe each found the other quite fascinating. Both, at times had almost the exact same philosophy on enlightenment, but as you know, the devil is in the details...and one can argue they were worlds apart in reality. Of the two, I have always found J. Krishnamurti to be the more 'unbelievable', holding a more mystical aura; a sweeter tasting bewilderment- his proposition of "enlightenment". Both mystics are to be respected and ignored (as they wished at times) but no spiritual education is complete without knowing of them both.

Here are two other quotes of U.G. Krishnamurti I have always found intriguing.

"People call me an 'enlightened man' -- I detest that term -- they can't find any other word to describe the way I am functioning. At the same time, I point out that there is no such thing as enlightenment at all. I say that because all my life I've searched and wanted to be an enlightened man, and I discovered that there is no such thing as enlightenment at all, and so the question whether a particular person is enlightened or not doesn't arise. I don't give a hoot for a sixth-century-BC Buddha, let alone all the other claimants we have in our midst. They are a bunch of exploiters, thriving on the gullibility of the people. There is no power outside of man. Man has created God out of fear. So the problem is fear and not God."

"I am not interested in changing the society. What I am saying has absolutely no social content at all. What is wrong with this world? Why do you want to change this world? This is an extraordinarily beautiful world! You want to change the world so that you can live in a world of your own ideas. The real problem is that you want to change yourself and you find it's impossible, and so you want to change the world so that you can fit the world into your own pattern."

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Thursday's Read

I'm doing my best to finish up two books before they're due back to the library and thought I would share them with you as they are both inspiring works.

Light from the East
by: Frank Machovec

"Truth is one, though sages speak of it by many names."
Rig Veda, 10th century BCE

"The goal of Light from the East is to present the wisdom of Asia without bias, not to convert or persuade but to allow the light to shine of and by itself. I made every effort to stay out of the way of and not distort that pure, natural light. Every available version of ancient writings was used, in an effort to discern what was most likely the original intent. Read this book you will be able to see how similar Eastern philosophies and religions are, that there is in fact one light from the East."

Frank Machovec is a retired psychologist who began studying Eastern philosophies during the Korean War as a Marine. His continuing study has resulted in translations of many Asian spiritual works. This book is the result of 50 years of reflection and study. He lives with his wife near the mountains of central Virginia.

Gandhi's Hope
by: Jay McDaniel

"This small book is written for the spiritually interested general reader who would like to learn about and from the world religions; who is troubled by the arrogance and violence that can sometimes be inflicted on the world in the name of religion; who believes that despite their shortcomings all religions embody wisdom that is essential to the well-being of life; and who is especially interested in prospects for peace between religions."

The book is a rich mix of philosophy, religion, poetry, science, and history and offers "Five Challenges" for those on the path of any religion: to live compassionately, to live self-critically, to live simply, to live ecologically, and to welcome religious diversity.

McDaniel offers us the concept of "Deep Listening," from which emerges "an acoustic vision of reality." McDaniel states, "Consider listening to music in a live concert. If we close our eyes while listening, we realize that the sound of the music is inside us and outside us at the same time, such that we would have a difficult time saying exactly where it is."

"It is present in us, and yet it is also beyond us. It is this sensation-this feeling of something being both part of us and more than us-that is at the heart of an acoustic vision of reality."

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Insanity

There is an insane debate on talk radio this morning regarding what to do with the body of al Qaeda terrorist Abu al-Zarqawi. First, there’s the debate as to whether or not we should be happy he’s dead, who’s happy he’s dead and who’s not. Then there’s the talk about burying his body wrapped in bacon or wearing a pigskin hat.

How insane.

Talk like this, reaction like this is precisely the reason so many Muslims and others hate America. One radio talk show host even played “Onward Christian Soldiers” while running down a list of Americans who have opposed the war in Iraq.

How insane.

Then, there’s talk and phone calls- actual debate on the “What would Jesus do” question regarding the treatment of the body and “would Jesus be happy that al-Zarqawi is dead,” "Would Jesus forgive al-Zarqawi for his actions."

The Rush Limbaugh and Shaun Hannity shows haven’t even started yet… one can only imagine what the talk will be on these shows.

Is such a large population of Americans this insane? What has happened to us?

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

I Want To....

I really want to do something extremely different.

I want to…..

….go parachute diving…
…shave my head…
…take a hammer to my TV’s…
…eat a steak…
…take my wife to Hawaii…
…move the family to India for a year…
…begin a sleeve tattoo…
…drive across the country…
…meet all my on- line blog friends…
…learn to read compass and map…
…take yoga lessons…
…sing in front of people again…
…eat some peyote…
…write a play…
…drive a bulldozer…
…be an am disc jockey...
…buy a log cabin…
…grow my own vegetables…
…spend a week with my wife and son in Hot Springs…
…see a Picasso…
…meet Bono…
…camp on the Catawba…
…win the lottery and give it all away…
…make wild, passionate love to my wife…
…live in Atlanta…
…direct an orchestra…
…cut a diamond…
…eat some hot wings…
…see a Billy Joel concert…
…spend a month in silence…
...spend a week in the recording studio…
…paint with Meredith of Graceful Presence…
…write a book of poems with my mother-in- law…
…fast for three days…
…fish in the Laurel creek…
…camp in the desert…
…sing a duet with Joan Baez…
…buy my sister a house…
…see my wife get published…
…take a cruise…
…smell some Halston perfume…
…drive a fast sports car…
…run the New York Marathon…
…tour Napa Valley…
…spend a month in Ireland…

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Ahhh- What Day Is This?

From the Can’t Help But Laugh department… The Dow is down 101 points as I write this (not like I have a dog in this fight) on news from Fed Chairman Bernanke that inflation is on the rise and interest rates will probably increase well into the future.

The stock market reminds me of a little old lady driving down the highway, swerving, breaking, and accelerating with every little shadow that crosses her path. Reactionary.

With reaction to the bad news of increased energy costs, the escalation of tension between the US and Iran, the war in Iraq, real estate values plummeting the Dow seems to be THE barometer we look to in measuring the pulse of overall contentment…and the overall contentment seems to be bleak.

I wonder how the stock market would take to the news that…

WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE ONE DAY!

From the What Would Jesus Do department comes a story from CNN regarding Kay Warren, wife of Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church and author of "The Purpose Driven Life," and Christianity & AIDS. Kay is executive director of Saddlebacks’s HIV/ AIDS initiative and writes with compelling emotion of her experiences globally with those suffering from HIV/ AIDS.

“Today, I challenge the worldwide church to take on the global giants of spiritual darkness, lack of servant leaders, poverty, disease, and ignorance. It's past time for those who claim to be Christ's followers to join the struggle against the devastation that the HIV virus brings.”

What would Jesus do? I don’t know but he probably wouldn't sit around asking questions.

From the Just Plain Old Whacked Out department today is June 6, 2006 or simply 6-6-6…and according to The Swift Report, high-ranking officials in the Bush administration are concerned that today could be President Bush's last day on earth.

You must see the Rapture Ready Index and read this article.

Imagine all the people….living for today.”

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