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One of the very few movies that I really regret having not seen at the theater. Of course, this is sight unseen…

In a better world, I would (as my initial gut reaction said to do) be aghast and ranting.

This, sadly, is not a better world, but rather one filled with wanna-be kings and old-west sheriffs who sit high above the laws they are charged with enforcing.

China executes ex-head of food and drug agency; Zheng sentenced to death in May for taking bribes to OK substandard drugs

…Such cases “have brought shame to our administration and revealed serious problems. We need to seriously reflect on what lessons we can draw from such cases…”

Zheng was sentenced to death in May for taking bribes to approve an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths and other substandard medicines.

And it’s sad that I find myself this morning wishing for this strong method of population control, one that would most certainly eradicate large chunks of our disproportionately wealthy…

Back from 72 hours away from the world. Well, my world, at least. No internet, no cell phone service, no radio or television for three days straight. Amazingly, I really liked it.

No stories to tell, really — it’s was joyously, invigoratingly uneventful. A few days with family, a night sky free of video pollution that aloowed me to see more stars than I’m used to, cows, a horseback ride, strange nighttime noises from the local fauna, and more cows.

Tons of boring pictures on my Flickr page.

Everyone needs a little time away, I heard her say…

Yeah, I went there.

Just finished reading Steven Hall’s Raw Shark Texts, probably the best book of this century. No kidding. Add it to your must read before you die list.

There are confluences surrounding you every day. Coincidence or kismet or destiny — who is to say what the truth behind these twisted path crossings really is?

Perhaps there is a point to finding out the truth behind these links — point of fact, it’s getting at the currents that run underneath the visible, tangible world that drive me to notice these things.

I find myself digging, stretching, reaching, and searching everywhere for these confluences, looking for the truth behind it all. Not so much the meaning of life — not really the meaning of anything, I suppose. The story of life, though. The way that everything comes together and enmeshes, reactions and repulsions.

In the same way that LOST throws out mysteries for which viewers scream for solutions, the universe has it’s own sequence of numbers, it’s own hatches and labyrinths of tunnels, it’s own Others. For me, there are no spoilers sites, no insider leaks, no guarantee, even, of a series conclusion that neatly wraps up the plotline and reveals all the answers.

There’s no guarantee of a prestige.

There is a thrill that comes with finding the connections, of pulling the important meeting out of the air, of recognizing that off all the puzzle pieces that you come across every minute of every day — that this is a piece of the puzzle you’re working on. And maybe you don’t see where the puzzle piece goes, or even have any idea what the overall image is, but you’ve got a piece, a new piece, and you’re one step closer to solution.

It’s tantalizing to find these fragments of the equations, but frustrating again when you realize that one step closer to the solution doesn’t mean anything if you don’t know how many steps away you are.

This week’s discovered connection, coincidentally, is some combination of Steven Hall’s The Raw Shark Texts, Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Good, and The Prestige. Magic, untruth, and conceptual virii and creatures of idea. Where does it all lead?

To more reading and watching, if nothing else.

If you’re not reading Something Positive every day of your life, the terrorists have already won. It’s too late to save us now, you sorry bastard.

And yes, I know the cartoon is cut off a little. This is on purpose, to encourage you to go visit Randy’s site, peruse the entirety of the archives, and redeem yourself from the fact that, thanks to you, three major villages have been eradicated from the planet and replaced with woman-hating rebel training camps.

Recently answered as part of a project by a friend…

1. What is the time of day you feel most comfortable with?

Late night, when most of the rest of the world around me is unconscious. 2 AM – 4 AM.

2. What is your favorite thing in nature. Anything from a certain flower to a rock to a body of water type.

Flame — it falls out of the traditional three elemental states (solid / liquid / gas), somehow embodying bits of all three.

That, and clouds; neither has a shape, yet neither is shapeless.

3. How do you view any type of belief such as religion or otherwise? In other words, what keeps your mind in meditation?

I think that there are neither words nor even ideas to adequately describe or understand the underpinnings of the universe. I think that the seemingly random recurrance of certain numbers and equations throughout observable nature is amazing and awe-inspiring. I think that the average person is incapable of considering the idea of a higher being, because of the need to apply humanistic traits.

Mostly, though, I think that the universe unfolds as it should.

4. What do you think of if you were to summarize your childhood?

I have amazingly (frighteningly?) few memories of my childhood — not much before 12 or 13, in fact. Knee-jerk reaction, though? Loved, contemplative, outcast, formative in all regards.

5. Current life: What is your status in your current life or lifestyle? What is it about your lifestyle that keeps you waking up every day?

That damn alarm clock. Instinct and habit. The pressing need for a cigarette. Kittens with sharp, sharp claws and bad attitudes. All that, and life is pretty good, especially in a forward-thinking sort of way.

6. How do you feel about the condition of the world today?

Oh, we’re fucked. Just waiting on the other shoe to drop — though it won’t be us that drops that shoe. No, we’re still just a speck on the face of this big rock, probably barely noticeable. Mother Nature’s ready for a change, though.

7. What calms you?

Nothing I can think of stresses me. Is that a valid answer?

8. What color would best describe your feeling when you are most centered?

Earthy green-brown.

9. Do you love your current surroundings regarding living conditions? Yes or no, please tell me why.

I should, but I need more space. Vertical and horizontal… I have too much stuff? There’s a front and back side to this mirror, I realize, but rather than getting rid of things that take up space, I’d rather spread myself out a bit (since I’ve worked hard to finally earn all this stuff).

I don’t know that I ever *want* to love my surroundings, though, because I think if I do, I’ll be content, and then I’ll stop striving for forward motion.

10. Greatest joy and greatest hurt.

Greatest joy — recently, it was making my first ever (and damned tasty) pot roast last night. Long term, I guess it would have been either winning the Sidewalk short script competition (the moment of the announcement, specifically), or a certain first kiss that still sticks with me after a trillion years.

Greatest hurt? Thanks to the joys of bipolar disorder and a tendency to over-analyze myself and my internal workings, I’m never sure how much of whatever hurt I feel is legitimate and how much is due to chemical imbalance. So I’ll take a cop-out answer and say that it was a few weeks, about four or five years ago, when I was utterly convinced that I had once and for all lost my way and would never find it again.

Or, to be more philosophical about both answers: my greatest joy came when I realized that the more I learn, the less I really know. My greatest hurt is often the pain of others.

You know how it ends, and quickly find out how it begins, if you’re paying attention. Is it worth the time?

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Thanks, Nagl!

I feel like the people who liked fried cornbread are the same people who strangle themselves while masturbating or during sex to have more powerful orgasms. Sometimes it’s ok to leave “really great” alone, you know?

– Jason Mulgrew, Everything Is Wrong With Me

For their own good, vegetarians should never be allowed near fine beers and ales.It will only make them loud and belligerent, and they lack the physical strength and aggressive nature to back up any drunken assertions.

– Anthony Bourdain