Philosophize this...

I saw a beautiful new Chevrolet Corvette on the showroom floor of a local Chevy dealer.  Of course I was not in the market for such a car, but I could not help but admire it for its beauty.

It had the sleekest lines I had ever seen on a car.  The way the body was molded looked like it could weave through space and time.  A two person futuristic cockpit that could travel to other dimensions better than any DeLorean could.  Its color was deep and shiny and not only could I see my reflection in the layers of paint I could also see the image of a man dreaming of maneuvering through the ages…from birth to the present.

While I was there I decided to get in and position myself in the driver’s seat and I could tell that in its motionless state it could protect me through whatever course I would direct it.  The dashboard was like a space vehicle and the stereo could play the latest jams while I was blasting through time and space.

I retrieved the manual from the glove box and began to read about the upgrades and options that were available for this model.  Braking, steering, engine, suspension, and the like and I began to imagine what each of those upgrades would feel like as I was hugging the curves or speeding down the highway. 

I remembered the most exciting rides I had ever taken in an automobile and simply changed the vehicle to upgrade the experience…

But as I sat in this beautiful piece of machinery I began to realize that there is no amount of imagination or transference or previous experience that can translate to what it would actually be like to take this beast down the road and feel the engine, steering wheel, and the suspensions react to my guidance.  While my belief was that I could somehow imagine what it would be like, I would never be able to duplicate the experience in my mind without having the actual experience in my memory.

You can dream all you want about things.  You can read all the great philosophers.  You can subscribe to whatever school of thought you want, but until you get off your ass and experience life and the joys and pains, the success and failures, you will never be able to truly understand the meaning and purpose of life.   Spend your life with your head in a book and you will only know a portion of a thought of a person who is likewise flawed.  Grab the keys and take life on a test drive!  Blow the doors off and blast into this world with respect for others you encounter along the way, but still with some modicum of reckless abandon.

Otherwise life is just a Vet on a showroom floor.

Sitting at a bar, Drinking a beer...

You learn a lot when you sit at a bar with a beer and just keep your mouth shut.  For one thing you realize how stupid alcohol can make otherwise intelligent people.  Or not.  Since I did not know the person sitting beside me I have no idea whether or not he was smart before the alcohol kicked in.  but he was having a conversation with an elderly lady about the two newsworthy stories yesterday.  Obama giving the eulogy for the pastor shot and killed in Charleston with 8 others, and the Supreme Court decision on Gay Marriage.  It was quite obvious that he was not a fan of either while the lady was impressed with both.  But somewhere in the conversation he commented that 'today was the end of democracy in America.'  And I was thinking that perhaps I, myself, do not have a complete understanding of what democracy is, but this is how the conversation went in my head:

“You’re an idiot.  If this were a true democracy, I might agree with you, but the reality is that we generally don’t put things to a ‘vote of the people’ because that is why we have representatives.  In a republic, we send people to Washington, D.C. to speak for us.  And they do our bidding with the caveat that there is a constitution that has to be considered in all laws that we enact.”  I think the architects of the constitution were very thorough, but still, there was no accounting for progress.

Here is what I think is the real issue.  We are at a shift in thought in our country where people are beginning to realize the importance of equality.  Gender, racial, lifestyle, etc, but the representation hasn’t caught on to it…yet.  One of the reasons is that the people we are sending to represent us, for the most part, are career politicians.  And if I were to define ‘career politician’ I would have to include the phrase ‘out of touch with regular folks.’  Another reason is that there are millions of people with thousands of different ideas on issues that are not always cut and dry and that there are not enough people in congress to adequately represent all of us.  But that muddies it even more, because to rectify it would require growing government.

Do you see the dilemma?  I certainly do.  And  honestly I have no idea how to fix it.  But we have to be conscious of the needs of the people.  All the people.  We the people.

Perhaps if I had had more than one beer I could have added to his conversation…thank God I only had one.

The greatest of these is Love!

I lived in South Carolina for many years.  I went to college there and I worked and played there over the past many years. (since 1979)

In the early 70’s there were no black students at the university I attended.  They were not allowed.  It was a “Christian” university.  When blacks were finally allowed, there were rules in place to separate the blacks from whites by not allowing interracial dating.  That was not limited to blacks and whites, but also Asian, and Indian (India).  They justified it by using bible verses that talk about how races should be separate.

(for a complete understanding of the ignorance go to: http://www.drslewis.org/camille/2013/03/15/is-segregation-scriptural-by-bob-jones-sr-1960/)

Now I assure you that upon my arrival at this university I was unaware of the discrimination of races that were not white and I was completely immersed in this new religion that I had found after stepping away from Catholicism.  It wasn’t a main topic of conversation.  The brunt of the pressure had been eased in 1971 when BJU began accepting black applicants.  This was in no way willingly or philosophically in line with their beliefs, it was to avoid losing its tax status with the IRS.

While studying there I began to see the heavily racist attitude that was meant to be kept buried in the ‘good works’ that the university was selling to the public, yet at no time were there any doubts as to its stance on race.  But I have a strong suspicion that the university did not end up in South Carolina by accident.  It began in Florida, was resurrected in Tennessee, and finally found a permanent home in Carolina.  It gave honorary doctorates to the likes of George Wallace and Strom Thurmond.  But this was their culture…and it was in line with the states practices.

The idea of the flag of the Confederacy being about heritage, not hate has no basis in reality, it is merely what people say to justify their beliefs.  I mean blacks are an extremely important part of the Heritage of the south, but you will never see a black man or woman in a pick-up truck with a giant confederate flag waving from the bed.

The “black race” has taken nothing away from our culture, but has enriched it and made it fuller.  And the idea that the color of one’s skin makes them less of a person, or someone to be feared or repressed is just insane.  God is not a respecter of persons.  God does not see color like humans see color.  Jesus wasn’t a ‘white guy.’  Sorry if that bursts your bubble, but if Jesus were here today, many people (not all) in South Carolina wouldn’t even talk to him and would likely judge him based on the color of his skin.

It’s time to teach our children Love and acceptance, not hate and fear. 

A load of Crap!

Would you ever go up to Deepak Chopra after he finished speaking and ask “so who taught you that?”

Maybe not.  But how many times can you remember having an “AHA” moment, said something profound to another person or group and they say: “where did you hear that?” And because it originated in your mind, you have no chapter and verse that you can reference.  But perhaps you attribute to something or someone anyway because an insecurity says that it is easier to believe if someone of “importance” said it first.

I see it all the time on the internet and especially on Facebook.  You will see a meme that has a picture of Einstein, or Lincoln, or Ghandi, and it has a quotation that you have never before heard attributed to any of those people, and yet you believe it.  When in reality, someone had a great thought and figured it would be better received, and believed, if a famous person said it.

The fact is (I write tongue in cheek) is that nothing has value unless someone of importance is spouting it.  The Truth, however, is not the case.  There are wise people living quiet existences all over the world, and if it were only possible for them to be famous, even for just the moment when they say what it is that would inspire us, we would all be the better.

If it’s true, or rings true to your soul, does it really matter who says it?  If you have an enemy, and they say something life changing do you just throw your hand up, shout pffft, and ignore them?

I encourage you to listen. Please listen!  Listen with an open mind and an open heart.  And it doesn’t matter who is talking.  Old people, parents, single people, married people, teenagers, children.  Listen.

If you lay a seed in the sun it will not grow.  The sun alone will kill it.  If you soak it in water, in the dark, it may sprout, but it will never bear fruit.  If you stick it in sterile ground it will also come to naught.

Life, as well as plants, need many external influences to make it grow.  And even when you think that someone else is just spewing a load of crap…remember…fertilizer is a load of crap!

It's all been done (apologies to Barenaked Ladies)

I don’t know what it is about the wee hours of the night just before I fall off to sleep that brings out a creative surge in me.  Unfortunately for you, I do not get up at that time and head to my computer to write it down, so instead you are left with the dregs of a foggy morning brain.

But I will try…

Since the idea has been put in the mind of humans over many years (certainly within my lifetime) that there is nothing new under the sun, that there are no new thoughts, I began to ponder the reason for thinking at all.  If it has all been said and postulated it there any reason at all to continue?

Well, I don’t know who started spreading that crap around, but the reality is that until something is discovered and put to use it still has the good fortune to be considered new.  And thought is the one area that is the most excused for “not” being new.

In the 5^th century BCE a guy left his mansion and set out to discover what the world really looked like and what part he played in it.  He learned of peace, love, harmony, and the importance of treating others the way he would want to be treated.  He was pretty famous.  But then came along another guy, 500+ years later saying the same things and he became the figurehead of the largest religions (Christianity) in the world…but his message was the same. 

Balk at it all you want, but most learned scholars would be able to stand them side by side and compare more than contrast.

The thing is that preachers of peace are the fundamental basis for all that is good in the world, yet when you think of the religions that they have spawned (more indirectly than hands-on), they are based more on making every one believe their specific story and discounting all the rest.  Then comes dissension and then comes war.

Who out there believes that the basis for most (if not all) wars have a religious undertone?  Yes it’s true that resources are also a large factor, but have you ever heard someone argue “we are ________, the children of God, and so anyone not subscribing to our beliefs are infidels (sinners) and deserve to be proselytized?  I have, over and over.  Every race and creed have had it said to them at one time or another and many have been ‘made’ to observe in that time too.

There are no governmental answers to this problem.  They are personal and must be dealt with by each person as they, hopefully, become enlightened…even if only a little.

"My name is George Henry and I'm a Television Addict...

It’s the post-season – pre-season nothing good on TV blues…

My wife asked me ‘why have you been in such a funk lately?’

I have had the chance to think about it and I have successfully eliminated the minutia surrounding the real reason.  It’s not that I have been almost a month without sugar.  It’s not that I am starting a new chapter in my career today, and it’s not the weather.

It’s the Television!

Sweet addiction, why have you left me lonely?

In the past couple of weeks I have seen the end of the season to some of my favorite shows on the boob tube.  I have also seen the cancellation of shows that were good and now I will never have closure on those stories.  And the next chapter of good television is almost three weeks out. 

I am in Television Purgatory!

I have a long list of shows that I watch with passionate intent.  Castle, Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-O, and a long list of others.  Each one is on hiatus as they write new episodes.  In the meantime my favorite “off” season shows have yet to begin.  I am impatiently waiting for Suits, Rizolli and Isles, Royal Pains, and assorted others to give me some evening relaxation.

It is not a completely dry spell because a popular book trilogy by Blake Crouch was made into a series (Wayward Pines) and is showing once a week for ten weeks.  But HEY, it’s one hour a week!  I simply cannot survive on one hour of good television a week.

Now I know that you probably think I need to get a life outside of television, but the truth is I have one.  I work around the house, I go daily to the beach, I sometimes write ‘stuff,’ and I trim my toenails.

Last night, though, I found myself glued to American Ninja Warrior and that is when it was confirmed in my head that I am an addict.  How could anyone sit through 2 hours of that stuff and not be totally numbed to the real world.

I have decided to seek some counseling.  The trouble is that there are no shows on television that feature psychotherapy in their story lines.  So I guess until they do an hour drama on the life of Sigmund Freud, I have to continue to self-medicate with Alaskan Bush People!  God help me!

#Suits, #Elementary, #Castle, #Wayward Pines

Caveat emptor! (but then it's free...so...)

What is it about comedy?

I don’t think a day goes by when my wife doesn’t tell me that she thinks I am funny.  Not funny in the sense that I maker her laugh, but in the sense that she believes I have the ability to make others laugh.  Now I kind of get what she’s saying.  There are times when I can be incredibly funny, but when it comes to broadcasting on the radio I don’t feel the same way about comedy as she does.  I cannot try to be funny.  I either am or I am not.  And often it’s that I am not.

When I am on the air, behind the computer writing, or in a room full of truly funny people I can’t tell a joke to save my life, but give me the most inopportune moment: a serious event, a funeral, a board meeting, a doctor’s office, or a room filled with a diverse ethnic population and I am hilarious.

Recently, at my mother’s funeral – god rest her soul – I was in the back of the church with my nephews, their wives, and my oldest sister and her husband and you would have thought I was the headliner at the Comedy Store.  My poor mother was up at the front of the chapel, as she always was, serious as can be, not saying a word and me in the back getting a laugh a minute.  Sometimes even at her expense.  And the sick, indecent, disrespectful part of the whole situation was that I couldn’t stop…nor did I want to.  But in that moment, when tears were flowing from many of the visiting guests, I was killing it.

Now that was likely the most serious offense that I can remember committing, but certainly it was not an isolated circumstance.  My youngest sister, Joanne, passed 6 months prior and a similar thing occurred.  And I am thinking that this could be a new career for me.  Funeral Comedian.  Why not.  They say the more you laugh the longer you live…so I show up a little late for one of the guests, but the rest benefit greatly.

I am always the first to crack jokes immediately after a tragedy and either people will look at me in shock or they will fall over laughing.  Of course I learned that any such joke is completely admissible as long as you follow it with the obligatory “too soon?”  but seriously, do I have a responsibility to mourn?  Is it our culture that requires it of us?  Or are some people just too uptight?

Okay, so I will never be a standup comedian, but as long as somebody in the crowd is laying down…I think I can get a laugh…or two.