Schrodinger's Cat & The Universe....Heavy Stuff!!

OK, my cousin and I have this battle going on about what is reality and what is not reality. We are both right and both wrong. We still love to talk about it and have a good laugh at our own expense. I thought I would write a little bit about it, because I find it amusing. I also like the fact that neither of us can prove the other one right or wrong and since the totality of existence is only here for me, I am right and he is wrong. If he has consciousness, which I'm not positive that he or anyone else does, I'm sure he he is right for the sake of his own "movie". And, that's all this life really is. It's just a movie or a ride. It's all for YOU. When you expire, NONE of this stuff that you fret over, care about, love, hate, or whatever will never have mattered an iota. You will be gone, with no way to think back on it, or observe it. It's over. As Hitchens said, the party doesn't end, you just don't get to be there any longer. The next time you get pissed about someone cutting you off in traffic or some little piece of nothing like that, just think how at some point, you will cease to exist. Will getting cut off in traffic mean anything then? So why should it mean anything now?

Alright. I've already blown your mind, haven't I Sherman? The universe is vast.......huge......gigantic.......enormous....gargantuan....ginormous....

Skip that. There is NO word for the size of the universe. There are literally (or, "lit trully" for fans of Parks & Recreation, on NBC, Thursday nights) billions (actually infinite) of galaxies, stars....blah, blah, blah. 

What if, there were no life anywhere? What if there was no conscious life ANYWHERE? Would the universe still exist? I say no. Cuz says yes. 

My logic is this; in our observable solar system, we have not found conscious life. So, let's just say that's true. If life on earth were suddenly extinct, would this solar system matter as a tangible entity? I say no. If there is nothing to observe it.... If there is nothing to consider it..... If there is nothing to try to make sense of it.... it doesn't exist. Not in any sort of practical reality. If nothing can consider it on any level, it's not there.

Now, my cousin, (we'll call him "Chris") says, of course, it would still be there physically. Now, yes, I know that to be true. But it's not REALLY there, right? No living thing can consider it in any way at all. There is nothing that can claim to look at it, hear it, smell it, taste it, live on it.....nothing at all. No way at all to know it's there, because there is nothing to know that it knows nothing. Something can only exist if there is something else that can consider it in some way. 

Say we put a cat in a sound proof box that we can't see into (there's a name for this theory....Schrodinger's Cat) with a poison tablet and close the lid. Is the cat dead or alive? We don't know. So, the cat is both alive AND dead. It has not been observed, so no matter what has happened in the box, whether the cat has eaten the poison or not, it hasn't really happened, because it's not been observed.

Walla......up yours "Chris"!!!

You can respond on your own blog. Oh, that's right, you don't have a blog. Therefore, if no one can observe your response, it must not exist. 

I win!!

It's confusing and crazy, but I love quantum theories!!!

Here we go, droppin' science

droppin' it all over

Like ridin' around town

drivin' a Range Rover

Sound of Science--Beastie Boys

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Star Wars: Phantom Menace in 3-D Sucks

It's high time I said something about another movie. This time, I'm going to tackle the fourth Star Wars film, which is really the first. Sure, it's been out on VHS and DVD for years, and most recently on Blu Ray, but this time it's different. You can go to the theater and see it in 3-D. But, I'll give you a tip; you can look at a piece of shit film as it was inteneded or you can see a piece of shit film in 3-D, either way, it's still a piece of shit. And this is from a Star Wars lover. 

I wanted to like Phantom Menace, I really did. There are parts of it I do enjoy, but there are not very many times where I feel like it fits well with the original trilogy. Why have prequels if you have to MAKE it all fit together and leave a bunch of questions and half assed reasons for things to happen later down the line? Oh..I know...money. 

First off, I have no idea how this thing is going to look in 3-D, but it really doesn't matter. It's a sorry piece of the Star Wars saga and unless he goes back and re-edits little Vader and Jar Jar, I have no interest in plopping down more money on George Lucas' table. They are his films. He can do as he pleases. But, if you have no interest in improving on your art (if it can be called that at all, I would say it's not), why wouldn't you just leave it alone. Oh...I know...again...money. 

When we finally get around to the original trilogy being released in 3-D, it will be the third time these movies have gotten a theater release. I support that, just to give new fans a shot at seeing them on a big screen. It doesn't mean I support all the changes or the 3-D concept though. For what it's worth, I'll cave in and say that the Phantom Menace is really just a movie for kids and making toys and not for big time science fiction fans. I'm not a big sci-fi guy, but I'm appreciating the genre a little more as I get older. I don't suppose I can say anything about this film that I haven't before. It's got a solid 45 minutes in it and that's about all. 

For the record, I will see films 3,4,5, and 6 in 3-D, should I be blessed to live that long. Those are the films that I think stay truest to form from the original Star Wars. George Lucas has done nothing but play around with Star Wars for decades. I wish he'd stop and just let them be what they are. Or maybe, we (critical a-holes) should just shut up and let him do what he will. They are his films. They are his legacy. Maybe I just don't want to be reminded that a couple of these films exist?

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Forget the Alamo: Remember the Mix Tape!!!!

I don't know how many people took the time to make mixtapes back in the hey day of the cassette players, but I know that I was fairly addicted to the practice. The assembling of music in such a way that it conveys how you feel to another human being is special. Well, it is to me anyhow. I've given them as gifts before, because that's exactly how I saw a mixtape that I compiled for someone.....a gift. An expression of my feelings for them in a way that I couldn't create organically.

I remember digging through my dad's records (all of which are now mine....thanks dad) and writing down what songs I wanted to put together. I would write them down, file the records in order and then look at the list again to make sure it was just how I wanted it to be. When making them for myself, I was a bit more forgiving on how rigid I would be with my criteria. There seemed to be one or two songs that found their way on to almost every mix tape I made for myself, that just didn't fit.  If I were taking the time to make a mix for someone I knew, the criteria became much more clear and the rules got a bit more unforgiving. 

I am of the belief that you should use a 60 minute cassette. An hour is a good amount of time to invest in music without thinking it's sucking the usefulness out of your day. The 90 minute cassette was a blessing for my own mixes, but when making one for another person, I tried to stick with 60 minutes. Didn't want to wear out my welcome. Plus, the more songs you add, as I mentioned before, the higher the chances that you put one or two songs on there that you wish you hadn't. That shit can haunt you!

Creating a mixtape was always kind of cathartic for me. If I were having some troubles or needed to feel a certain way, I would fall back on my favorite songs to get my mind right. Or, sometimes, I'd just roll around in my own misery or discontent and make a mix tape that heightened my emotions. I saw, and still do see, a well planned out mixtape (mix CD now....blah) as an extension of who I was. I would take someone else's art and fashion it into something that made me feel a certain way. How many things in life can we do that with now? How many people slow down to actually put together a piece of "pleasure" for themselves or someone else? Sure, it's easy to burn a playlist, but I'm talking about compiling some songs and listening to them as you do so. There was a bit of magic to it. For those of you who do not understand, that's OK.....you just missed out. Or, perhaps you were out partying, working on your future, or getting laid, while I was sitting in front of a stereo system surrounded by tapes, records, pens, and pieces of notebook paper. That kind of paints a sad vision of my mid-teenage years, right?

I could write quite a bit more on this, but I think I'll stop here. I could go into the little rules that people like me made up. It was almost an art. Here's an example; always start out with an attention grabber and then one just a bit better than the first. After that you can slide back down and settle into a stream of good tunes that hold to a theme. Never end a side or a tape with a throw away song. Begin and end with songs that best convey your intentions with the tape. OK, so I didn't quite stop....but as you can see, there is a little bit more to it than what meets the eye of a person who doesn't get the concept. 

If you want to see a truly terrific film about romantic relationships, friendships, unfinished business, and how music connects those things for many people, check out "High Fidelity", starring John Cusak. It's based on a novel by Nick Hornby and has some great scenes involving how music makes us feel and how we can take that music and turn it into a love letter, a break up letter, personal manifesto, or just a thread of songs that can make your time driving in your car more enjoyable.

Here's a great scene of "Rob" creating a mixtape for a female journalist he met. She wants to do an interview and talk about his "Top 5" songs (which is another blog entirely....the "Top 5" thing....it's what we media geeks do) and he knows the best way to do that is to make her a tape. It's a really good movie. I highly recommend it. I'm pretty sure it's the first thing (and best thing IMO) that Jack Black was in. 

Well, there that is. I don't suppose there is much entertainment value for anyone to read. I do feel like the more nostalgic among us may get the itch to visit an old mix tape they have thrown in a box or in their sock drawer. So, if nothing else, perhaps I've sparked something in one of you that will lead you to either re-visit an old tape or maybe make a new one for yourself, a friend, or a loved one! Remember, you are making personal art out of someone else's personal art. Be respectful of the process! 

What We Do On The Internet, Echoes In Eternity!

I've been thinking about the culture lately. Last night as I was contemplating my own demise, which face it, could come at ANY moment now that I'm in the age zone for heart attacks and strokes, along with my less than human being type diet. What will we each leave behind when we finally kick the bucket? What will be left for people to remember us by? 

In days past, there were usually just some photos and a few artifacts from our lives that someone in our family kept and passed down from generation to generation. The more time that passed, the less people remembered you or even cared that you existed. Unless you were a person who left your mark as a performer, politician/leader, writer or artist, you just eventually became ashes and blew into history with billions before you. 

These days, it's different. Quite a bit different. Everything we do seems to be recorded. The digital age allows us to take THOUSANDS of photos and store them without taking up space. There are CD's and DVD's crammed with photos in almost everyone's computer desk. Not that these will ever get looked at again. Or at least they won't until someone dies. Then we can drag 'em out and put together a video montage. I think that's pretty cool and a nice keepsake. We also have digital video recorders now. Besides the piles of video tapes with lots of shit you'll never watch (or edit...you KNOW that you have promised yourself to edit them. You will not do it.), you can now store the videos on your computer or portable hard drive....and not watch them. 

And then, there is the internet. Most people under the age of 50 have a Facebook page. Some arrogant and egotistically self-important jag offs even have blogs. Don't forget emails. And what about those message board comments? A lot of us do those too. 

Where does this stuff go? We know that we keep some of it. We know others keep some of it. And then, we REALLY know that Google keeps some of it.....all of it. All this information about us and our lives....just out there on the wide wide world of webs. We now have the ability to have almost everything about us live on indefinitely into the future. And I think that's a good thing in some ways. But in other ways, it can be either hilarious or ghastly, depending on how you wanna look at it. 

Let's take a look at a few pictures that you probably should have considered NOT putting on the interwebs. 

Yes, I've used this picture in another blog, but couldn't help going back to it. Not the worst picture, but certainly one that her daughter there won't be showing off to friends when "Momma" bites the big one and is swept off into eternity. Come on already.....let's lose the pooched lip thing. 

Gotta love the "People of Walmart" pictures. There is no way to even begin to think that's cool. None. I'm not convinced that woman is alive. She's fictitious. A photo shopped creation. NOBODY does that. Do they?

Look dear, here is your grandmother passed out on the night of my conception. 

"What we do in Walmart, echoes in eternity!!!"

And these are just pictures. Imagine all the stupid shit people have written as Twitter or Facebook updates. Think about all those e-mails!!

Oh, and these blogs. Ha Ha.....if I die tonight (I'd say even odds) there is no way that my kids won't know that they had a mentally ill, pot head, angry, goofy, self-centered, confused, ridiculous father.

 And this isn't me, but I want to sound off the warning;

IF YOU HAVE ANY TAPES OF  YOU HAVING SEX, EITHER WITH YOURSELF, ANOTHER PERSON, OR OTHER PEOPLE, MAKE A CONTINGENCY PLAN WITH A FRIEND ON THE EVENT OF YOUR DEATH FOR THAT STUFF TO GET DESTROYED! (yeah, that'll happen...wink, wink....I got you covered Chris)

That is a public service announcement right there. That's just me, I like to help out. And if you have any porn saved, just get rid of it. We have online streaming these days. It's like Pee Wee getting busted at a peep show in the 90's.....we had fuckin' VCR's you dummy.

Consider what is left behind for your family and friends to find (and probably either hate you over, want to die themselves over, or make fun of) when you take the dirt nap?

It's enough to make you think, ain't it?

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There ain't no grave can hold my body down 
There ain't no grave can hold my body down 
When I hear that trumpet sound I'm gonna rise right out of the ground 
Ain't no grave can hold my body down 

"Ain't No Grave"---Johnny Cash

Doug Stanhope, Alex Jones & The Austin Incident

Doug Stanhope

Last week while doing a search for some comedy on You Tube, I stumbled across a video from a show that Doug Stanhope performed in Austin, Texas in 2004. Anyone who has paid attention to my blog over the past year or so knows that I really dig the type of stand up that Stanhope, Joe Rogan, Bill Burr, and Louis C.K. perform. They seem to be the offspring of the brilliant, but now deceased Bill Hicks, who was every bit as much a social commentator as he was a comic. I love to watch a good hour of stand up, but what made this one appealing, just from the title alone, was the word "incident" and the name "Alex Jones". At that point, I'm all in. Keep in mind that this show was performed just after we had invaded Iraq and there was quite a bit of uncertainty, fear, and tension about the war.

Alex Jones

I assume from the video that Stanhope was just going to give his performance. Nothing that merited any special attention, just doing what he does best....making people think and laugh. Alex Jones is asked to introduce Stanhope on to the stage and does so, after about 8 or 9 minutes of New World Order ranting. Jones, for those who are not familiar with him, is a conspiracy theory guy. He is involved in making some really good documentary films (The Obama Deception) and  hosts a radio show. He's out there, and tends to go way over the top, but he does provoke thought and discussion. On this night, I'm not sure if it was booze or what, but he just took over the stage. He went on a long rant about how the government sets up dictators so we can have enemies to fight and how asleep the American public is about it. Honestly, there isn't much of a way for me to describe it that is going to be as interesting as seeing it. So, I'll post his opening rant, without the entire show behind it. Here is the first ten minutes, eight of which is Alex Jones going absolutely ape shit. By the end of this, he's arguing with the crowd, and when Stanhope finally takes over, he has to deal with some hostility and high emotions from the audience for the rest of the show.  

Stanhope never really gets back on track as far as his act goes, but he starts interacting with the audience, which leads to truly organic and great moments. Yes, this act goes totally off the rails, but there are some great laughs. I'm not sure how many comics would want to push through a show like this, but it's really great to see something so real. 99.9% of the time, any show you pay to watch, is so pre-arranged and set up that you don't get an ounce of spontaneity from the performer. Watching Jones and then seeing Stanhope's face a couple of times when he comes on stage, it's hard not to get the feeling that he was enjoying the chaos that Jones was creating between himself and the audience. If you love stand up that makes you think about our culture, this one is for you. Interesting, annoying and entertaining all at the same time. I tip my cap to Doug Stanhope. He keeps it real!  

If you are interested in seeing the show in its entirety, here you go!