Noblesse Oblige

Reign of Kindo – reminiscent of those days when I thought that music was headed in a Cafe Jaques, Spiders from Mars sort of direction….

I’m posting this for my wife and my friends who sometimes don’t get why I spend so much time alone, and secondly for my sisters who sometimes end up alone some of the time. My sisters need to know that it’s ok to be alone sometimes.

When it comes to me being alone, my wife and friends don’t know why I wake in the wee hours and sometimes wander, or sometimes just read, or other times just try to decipher the hieroglyphs in the popcorn sprayed ceiling above me. Silly words like “Truth” and “Beauty” are why I don’t mind being alone, and why I seem autistic at times even when the room is full of people and action and merriment. Some of us carry our own joy and wonder with us that was lovingly cultivated over a lifetime, and we live for those long periods of thought and contemplation — and for those wanderjahrs that really only take moments during that conversation that we had with you where we didn’t hear part of what you just said and rudely asked you to repeat it. Because I like to be alone does not mean I love you less, not at all, and not even during that moment when I wasn’t paying attention.

We also live for those short moments when we can sometimes share with someone, anyone, a tiny bit or shiny moment that we found in that solitude, something that might be new for you. Thank you all for your patience with us certified card carrying loners.

In the following short Tanya Davis’ poem captures some of what the joys of solitude can bring, but not near enough of it… I recommend that you set this to 720p and full screen to watch.

Where else would you run across something like this?

For those who didn’t know, here’s my twitter stream, where I toss out the topical articles and events etc. instead of accumulating them here — there certainly are enough aggregators already out there in the blogosphere, so I try to keep the topical confined to twitter. This place is for Jack Handy like deep thoughts and photos…  The twitter stream is mostly centered on politics, skepticism, and science.

The moon was out late in the afternoon on Wednesday, so I snapped a couple of photos of it; high humidity blurs it a bit.

Normally I do not watch movies or Television much, and I’m not a big visual media consumer. Over the past few weeks recuperating gave me opportunity to catch up on a lot of media I had missed simply because holding a book and reading after they crack your chest open is a bit problematic for more than 20 minutes at a time.  So here’s my rundown and my recommendations for what I’ve watched recently.

The Perfect Getaway — Pretty darned good thriller – a tense drama filled with good twists and moments of romance and humor — and you even end up liking the bad guys and gals….

“The Book of Eli” — This dog of a movie is so bad that even Denzel Washington couldn’t save it and I’m not even going to link it.  If you must have a post apocalyptic wasteland movie, try “A Boy and His Dog,” “Road Warrior,” “Damnation Alley” or pretty much anything else. “The Book of Eli” turns out to be Christian Proselytization wrapped in a lot of stinky Skiffy — it’s so bad I would watch Zardoz or Waterworld again before I watched this abomination.

“Inception” – I hate Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor, but this movie is superb and a must see for everyone. The complexities in it do require your full attention, so make sure you hit the bathroom before you go to this and don’t drink a lot – even a short break might cause you to loose anchor and continuity.

“The Man From Earth” — Highly thought provoking and a must see – this is the last work of the great Jerome Bixby. ( remember the Twilight Zone episode about the kid who thought people out into the cornfield?)

“Mad Men” — I Highly recommend this series seasons 1-3, a larger than life look at the Ad men empires of the sixties and the turmoils of those times. You will love and pity many of the characters as they hit both tragic and comedic highs and lows. This is the sixties as Shakespeare might have done them.

“The Legend of the Seeker” — Seasons 1&2 — a relatively well done adult fantasy series based on the “Wizard’s First Rule” series. S&M, Women in bustiers and tight red leather outfits, what’s not to like?

“Heroes” – Season 1-4 — well scripted in some places, trite and tired in others, this is a bit of an uneven series. There’s a lot of soap opera talent that seems involved in this production so it certainly has its ups and downs, hooks and put offs, but overall there are enough really good threads and story lines running to keep you watching the whole series. I do recommend it but not as highly as other things; (e.g. it’s a cut above “Stargate SG-1 Season 9” but nowhere near as good as any season of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”)

“Criminal Minds” – If you liked “Silence of the Lambs” or you are a fan of Jeffrey Deaver novels, then this is the police procedural drama for you. The series follows an FBI profiler unit as they tackle serial killers, stalkers, and others week by week.