Random Jim Morrison Quote

Because I feel like it...

"Soft driven, slow and mad
Like some new language
Reaching your head
with the cold, sudden fury of a divine messenger

Let me tell you about heartache, and the loss of god
Wandering, wandering in hopeless night
Out here in the perimeter, there are no stars..."

"Land of the Lost" Marathon

While I was gratefully enjoying a Memorial Day BBQ over my parent's house, my Mom had the SciFi marathon of the goofy classic series "Land of the Lost" on the TV.

My brother was watching it, too, & we all were enjoying the pure silliness of it.

I remember seeing a few re-runs of the show as a kid in the 80's, & I knew it was old & crappy even back then.

My Mom surprised us by saying she used to watch it all the time in the 70's... & she even knew the names of all the ridiculous characters & dinosaurs in the show. I thought she only watched "Bonanza" & stuff,- not the kind of craziness created by Krofft Productions. She was talking about 'Chaka' & 'Sleestaks' and I realized what it's like to hear about 'Sith Holocrons' or 'Zabraks'.

Of course, this marathon was used to promote the predictable Will Ferrell movie version that's coming out. Remaking such a profoundly low-budget show into a multi-million dollar film completely misses the point.

The opening may be the best part of the show. I noticed in later episodes the 'Dad' in the show got lost in a time warp, & he was replace by an 'Uncle'. The show got a revised opening sequence that is just as hilarious:

"The Monkey Buddha" Visual Archive

Since Blogger is a Google-owned service, I knew the pictures on this blog were uploaded to the emerging Universal Mind of Google's servers.

Recently, though, I discovered that all the images I've uploaded are stored in a web album on Google's online photo hosting site, Picasa.

I changed the status of The Monkey Buddha album to "public" so the visual madness can be viewed by others.

Even without the context of their respective blog posts, the image collection is very representative of my personality & the crazy things that interest me. I'd be willing to say that it is one of the most unique sets of imagery anywhere!

"The Monkey Buddha"
Visual Archive

It's almost impossible for me to pick any favorites from such a treasure trove of visual gems.

Here are a few highlights:


• One of the greatest pictures ever:


• Squint to see the secret message in this one:



The essence of modern political sensibilities:


...and finally, an image I'll use as shameless self-promotion for my creation, the game "Da Vinci's Challenge":

"Da Vinci's Challenge
@ 3Amoebas.com"

Jesse Ventura is Still a Badass

I used to hate Jesse "The Body" Ventura as a WWF wrestler & interviewer when I was a kid. He was much cooler as the gung-ho marine in the classic movie Predator.

After an entertainment career & also a stint as Minnesota governor, Jesse Ventura has been speaking out in his own special way. He's got a rare combination of thoughtful arguments with an unapologetic, forceful delivery.

I've seen other videos of him talking to groups about controversial issues like The War Monkey, 9/11 or the Iraq occupation. Sometimes he can seem overly-confrontational & a little out-there, but I think he does have alot of strength of wisdom. Most of all, he is correct to encourage questioning everything, especially "The Unquestionable". It definitely takes a unique personality to be able to rant over the King of Radio himself, Howard Stern...

Howard Stern Show 1/29/09:
Jesse Ventura on 9/11

Especially when it comes to the power structures of society, we should accept that Americans are people- capable of the worst that humanity has to offer, as well as the best. If we turn a blind eye to either possibility, it degrades our functioning as a whole.

Speaking of degradation...
Jesse Ventura has simplified the entire sub-human debate about the morality of torture (aka. 'Enhanced Interrogation Techniques'):

"You give me a water board,
Dick Cheney, and 1 hour,

...and I'll have him confess
to the Sharon Tate murders."

I also just saw a video clip on Raw Story from a TV show that I never watch otherwise- 'The View'. Jesse talks down the ridiculous & clueless Elisabeth Hasselbeck.



"The Body"'s on a roll... & should be given at least as much airtime as Emperor Cheney.

Everytime I see Cheney's now-iconic sneer burning through the TV, I listen to his 'tortured' logic & think of the names bestowed upon him by Lyndon LaRouche, the fringe Presidential candidate: "Beast-Man" & "Brute".

I'm glad there are some people with the dedication to truth & the tremendous balls to call out The Dark Lord himself.

*Bonus Video!
Jesse Ventura is the gift that keeps on giving. Here is another clip of him taking on the male version of Elisabeth Hasselbeck- cable news' biggest knucklehead, Sean Hannity:

"Jesse Ventura slams Sean Hannity"

News Flash: Artists are Crazy!

Some relevant Crazy Wisdom from Terrence McKenna:

Every so often, a study is released claiming that creative personalities are more likely to be 'mentally ill'.

I've posted about the very unique qualities of artistic minds before:

"Artists are Sexy & Crazy"

I also saw this recent article about - "the unusual and sometimes bizarre thought processes associated with mental illness to fuel creativity."

"Creative Minds:
The Links Between
Mental Illness and Creativity"

This is like saying- "Engineers tend to have overly-analytical minds!" ...It's not really that shocking of a connection.

All artists need to be at least a little crazy. It's called "thinking outside the box." Commercial designers like me create for mainstream consumption, but an unfettered mind allows a wider variety of ideas to take form during the creative process.

Qualities that we now consider to be mental disturbance in modern society have, in fact, often been held in awe by members of many cultures around the world. Creative forces, such as artisans & shamans, have been held in high esteem throughout history despite their 'unconventional' personalities. This is because they bring forth novel possibilities into the world that cannot be conjured with 'conventional' thinking.

I have a book, The Shaman, by Piers Vitebsky that is full of fascinating material. However, most of the techniques & anecdotes about these important visionary healers would be considered absolutely wacky by Western standards.

Of course, sometimes crazy really is just crazy which is just craaazy.

Cracking the Maya Code

Before I went out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday, my Mom called me to tell me about a show on PBS about the ancient Mayan culture of Mexico. My family has been to the ruins at Chichen Itza & everyone knows I am a connoisseur of the art of lost civilizations.

It ended up being one of the more informative documentaries I've seen about this amazing culture, so I ended up getting into it (& delaying my plans by almost an hour!).

Anyway, there is a section of the PBS Nova website for the program where you can watch the episode, too.

NOVA:
"Cracking the Maya Code"

NOVA:
"Cracking the Maya Code-
Watch the Program"

Here is a link to all my commentary related to the Mayan culture:

MonkeyBuddha.com:
"MAYA"

Obama the Superhero

On io9.com I saw a link to a comic featuring Barack Obama as the leader of a fictional America nearly destroyed by an alien invasion.

I just thought, "Wow, that's pretty crazy..."

"Drafted: One Hundred Days"

President OBAMA! has already teamed up with one of the most popular superheroes ever, Spider-man:

"Obama, Spider-Man
on the Same Comic-book Page"

However, after looking at a couple links related to the "Drafted" comic, I saw this link with other Barack Obama comics by the publisher, Devil's Due Publishing:

" Meet Barack the Barbarian
taking on scantily clad nemesis Sarah Palin
in new comic superhero role"

I think the barbarian versions of Barack & Sarah Palin (below) are just awesome.

Having Dick Cheney, (aka. "Chainknee of the Elephant Kingdom") & his menacing scowl in the background is too funny.