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Nobody (2021)
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 187
Stymied by a lack of interesting film choices and prompted by the promise of a "Nobody 2" I downloaded this.
To sum it up briefly "Bob Odenkirk does John Wick". Kind of a cheap and cheesy rip off, I knew what I was getting into and so it would be unfair to be critical. Amusing, but pretty silly.
That said I was amazed to see Christopher Lloyd show up in it - I mean, he was old in "Back to the Future" and - well, 30 years older in this. AND - remember when he shows up to take Marty to the future - 30 years hence - and, skip the flying cars but look at the politics...
We've arrived - none of the promise, all of the downsides.
3 Links, of varying interest...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 368
First link a delve into the often complex environmental factors that create Schizophrenia:
Link: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/07/28/mary-had-schizophrenia-then-suddenly-she-didnt
What's of interest here is how Schizophrenia may be an autoimmune disorder. Of course, it's many things, and around this town I generally ascribe it to being a pot-or-drug-induced psychosis, so many of the homeless and mentally unwell with substance abuse problems, often exposed far too young to "medications" that they can't handle. And the fact that pot has grown so substantially more commonplace, easily accessible, and formidably more potent than the pot of their grandparents. So it's nice to see some other takes on this.
Second Link: http://airestech.com/
Now, given RFK Jr's position in America at the moment we might expect to see a lot more similar and like devices on the market - geometrically inscribed playing cards, tokens, amulets, etc, that promote the protection from non-existent dangers and toxins. I mean, you weren't getting sick from EMF radiation before, and you aren't now, so why shouldn't someone make a quick buck off of it? That someone SHOULD be me...
Third Link: https://bexxly.com/
And another fine quack medical device. And I'm still looking for a jeep...
This is going to get big. I need a medicinal oil that can be spread around the inside of a plague masques and pomanders, my own patent formula, I mean, look at where Alberta is with the Measles and Vaccinations and you know this is going to be big soon...
Cosmic Consciousness - Richard Maurice Bucke, M.D.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 306
A curious book, found at a thrift shop and purchased despite the title and cover.
First published in 1901, the author argues that man is in his "Self Conscious" stage of existence, in which he is aware of himself (differentiated from the animals, that have an awareness of others but presumably not themselves. We now know that for certain species this is untrue). But - from time to time, certain men have achieved a sort of illumination, or enlightenment, and he argues that this is a trend forward for humanity in consciousness - that eventually we'll all transcend our self-conscious selves and become at one with the universe as we can perceive it (or, as we don't).
Of Canadian descent (reassuring in that most saviours seem to come from Galilee or Tibet) he describes his childhood in backwoods Canada, his growing up, travels, love of Walt Whitman (who, coincidentally is definitely one of the enlightened ones) before proceeding towards his theories of consciousness. Himself a psychiatrist the author proves very well informed on any number of issues and rather out of date on others (as is to be expected.)
It reminds me vaguely of Hegel's "The Philosophy of History" in that the author argues conscious awakening is, in a way, an inevitable part of being human. A little ray of sunshine to distract one from the news cycle...
But his Thesis is not the point, it's the questions he raises (in my mind, at least - along the way).
First of all, his views on Women and enlightenment and Savage/"Lower Races" on enlightenment - well, .... that isn't cutting it today. Even if he were right, which I strongly suspect he isn't. Culture is far more definitive than race. But he's not working from a place of ignorance or hate, merely a lack of information and through the lens of his time.
Some of his (so far) enlightened persons include Mohammed, Jesus, Buddha, Shakespeare (Francis Bacon), Dante, and so on and so forth. He finds no shortage of exemplary lives and attributed quotes to support his arguments. Of interest were his references to Colour Theory - that man has only recently developed a nuanced colour sense (and there is abundant evidence and other theories to support this, which I have referenced before), and extends this same theory to fragrance and taste (again, these things lacked a vocabulary until relatively modern times), he argues that colour blindness is simply atavism, that insanity is caused by the hyper-attenuation of modern senses, that as we "evolve" those higher up are more prone to mental illness, the foundation not yet secured, and so forth and so on.
Not everything is to be agreed upon, but he does force you to consider things from a different perspective.
Points of disagreement: that self awareness is not present in dreams (it can be, as in lucid dreams), that a effect can never be greater than it's cause (clearly and almost always untrue), that the Aryan Race is the most highly developed/evolved, that women have disproportionally fewer representatives of Cosmic Consciousness (possible - if you consider that women conform more to the mean than men do, and so men are overrepresented in things like mental health struggles - and, by extension, "Peak Experiences" that tear off the veil...)
anyways, a curious read but non-essential. Now probably I should attempt to elevate myself through some meditation, but I think instead it's time for lunch...
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Maurice_Bucke
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Consciousness
Link: https://archive.org/details/cosmicconsciousn01buck/page/n7/mode/2up
Play, Work
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 309
So work this week has been busy, and keeping me busier than I'd like. Thursday night, "The Sound of Music", at the Capitol, wonderfully well done and some real talent in the performers - but, well, my heart wasn't in it and I made it to the first intermission before bolting.
Friday, an interview at the bank - basically ruling them out as a source for a vehicle loan, only on newer vehicles and for sums I don't care to borrow. Which restricts my options, and I'm not thrilled about going through a dealership, but this walking about town is getting to be a real bore.
Friday evening, madness at work, full on for 5 hours straight, Friday Night Market and a too-full restaurant and patio, too shortly staffed, running out of glasses, dishes, glasses again...all night long. Never ahead of the curve long enough to manage to set the tables, couldn't even if you had the time, the dishwasher isn't keeping up, and - really, I need a jeep, a way to decompress on my days off...
Saturday, busy again but at a more civilized pace.
And in the meantime, cutting up cardboard and trying to piece together shapes for a rather large paper mache project, which has filled my apartment with shredded newsprint and cut-out cardboard pieces that in no way can I seem to piece together to make a mold or scaffolding ...
So this fills my time, a trip a day for groceries to the CO-OP because I haven't the energy to make a trip to Save On, and I'm liking the fancier cuts of meat and Kombucha.
Last night, after work, running into C*****, from the old restaurant, he was fired for being a lazy dog-f*cker, he was, just a kid then though, and he's telling me he's got a job lined with the new owners as a server, and you know that will last all of a week, if that long...
And today, traditionally a day off but I'm working, early, and so it goes, I complain about work but there's no complaining about the cheques, especially if I'm doing death on the instalment plan, and that catches us all up.
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