I write on a whole about positive things. Positive ways to find happiness. After all life is not a test drive. Yet every rule has an exception. Tonight I write about a mistake. One mistake. One single greatest mistake.
We all make mistakes. Each day the sun comes up we aim to be happy without realizing "Today I will make a mistake." In a way it's something that makes life beautiful ...That unknown.
Still--Who really wants to celebrate a mistake? Really. Life is not about mistakes, it's about how we avoid mistakes, how we handle mistakes and rebound from mistakes.
And sometimes we don't.
I look back on my life ...Of the choices I've made and how in many ways I learned from the mistakes of others. It's been a big part of my life. From a VERY young age this was something about me. That something was not just a form of people-watching. It was a subconscious level of analyzing and determining outcomes based on the choices made by people around me. I could give examples but I don't want to be accused of being pious or self-righteous.
My point is that over much of my life I did a lot of soul searching. I made lifestyle changes. I measured risks. I learned that people that look like they are out to help you are not always what they appear. Most of all, I tried to understand what could happen before I made a decision. And of course no matter how much you try and control risk ...A risk is still a risk. Sometimes they bite you in the ass that day. Sometimes a risk comes haunt you years later.
You would think a man like this should not be prone to mistakes. Not many. And up until now one ... more»
Michael Cretu has done it again! He's created another blended Enigma album that sounds like the rest despite distancing Enigma from its original epic sounds (Gregorian chant, Foghorn and Shakuhachi). Depending on your appreciation for the style of Enigma this is good or bad. In 1990 Enigma broke by combining classic and modern sound with Sadness, a strange Gothic ambient electronic escape from the everyday dance and rock sound we all knew.
Now almost twenty years later, the Enigma project claims to have evolved but merely dabbled in many different cultural sounds (Tribal chants, Ami, Latvian, etc…) to blend into their own style of electronic ambient music which fuses chants and electronic sexual undertones.
Unlike rock bands that will often want to redefine themselves, Enigma doesn't have that luxury although the face of Enigma Michael Cretu may claim it. "As long as I don't repeat myself, I won't get bored. That's why I always have to start something new, invent things!" I applaud his intent, the true mark of a great artist, however to those of us listening to his completed work can't help but hear the same sounds resonating in every song. If it is an evolution more»
"The pleasure of satisfying a savage instinct, undomesticated by the ego, is uncomparably much more intense than the one of satisfying a tamed instinct. The reason is becoming the enemy that prevents us from a lot of possibilities of pleasure."
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- As if getting a DUI wasn’t enough, a man arrested for driving under the influence got in a lot more trouble at the police station. Police stopped Jose Cruz on Route 60 in South Charleston Monday night for driving with his headlights off.
Then, he failed sobriety tests and was arrested.
When police were trying to get fingerprints, police say Cruz moved closer to the officer and passed gas on him. The investigating officer remarked in the criminal complaint that the odor was very strong.
Cruz is now charged with battery on a police officer, as well as DUI and obstruction.
Being someone that has worked within the Internet world since 1995 I must tell you. The best way to deal with this when you are average person is lay low. Sadly the answer is as simple as keeping your mouth shut when it comes to serious subject matter. People that want to hurt you, can. People that want to hurt you through the Internet can really hurt you. I'm not talking about using the World Wide Web to attack people with false discussion board posts or other forms of slander. And while those take place, what I mean is that on the Web or in the physical world when you open your mouth too wide, you draw attention to yourself and with it bring trouble.
I can think of at least one world issue that I've compiled a great deal of ammuntion to argue over but because I know the uglieness and ruthlessness of the Internet I don't ever discuss the subject on my blog. I'm certain I'd be targeted for retaliation if I raised the subject on my blog. In fact I once posted an article on another site under another name and
Hactivist don't see faces. The only know they have the power to do harm and further their agenda. Organizations or entities that have their way of life at stake will hurt you. They'll use the Interent to find you and come to your door and hurt you. Nine times out of ten, hactivist hurt many innocent people along the way. People with no dog in the fight other than having known the person under attack.
So by now many of you know I'm writing elsewhere and being paid for it. :)
Don't get too excited for me. The perks at this point outweigh the income. LOL But I see a good future from it all. From going backstage with bands from Philly to New York, attending gala's (Think Michael Feinstein in Manhattan) to screening movies before they even hit theaters and advance copies of music to review, this is one writing job a lot of people would kill for.
The question I've been getting is where? Ah... sorry. Sadly I've been harassed lately and it seems if people know too many specifics about me, the person or persons harassing me try to hurt me.
And yes, the fact I'm writing about this now lets the person or persons harassing me know that I know they are doing it. Whatever. I'm not a kid and I can stand up and fight for myself. I will however NOT be pushed around. Harassment is a form of terrorism. And just like a society that should not give up being open and cave into terrorist, I know if I crawl in a shell the person or persons harassing me have won. Enough of that. My point is I can't say where I work, just know it's a job I'm enjoying as I get to do something I enjoy, write.
Today I received an advanced copy of Enigma's new album due for release later this month. I've been listening to it and will post a review on that next. In the weeks and perhaps month to come you'll see more reviews and interviews. I hope they appeal to my readers.
I plan to still post my perspective pieces and stories. How to articles and what-have-you.
Written and directed by Olaf de Fleur, The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela lacks identity like the nature of it's feature performer whom is transsexual. Is it a documentary? A drama? A docudrama? Somehow it manages to be all and none of these. Imagine how the Blair Witch Project was a put up documentary. There are other films to take this tack and it can work. The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela is shot in the same style less the camera shake and even then points in the film seem disjointed perhaps due to bad editing or intent to look like a real documentary but it doesn't sell.
But what of the story? Thirty years ago this film would have been offensive. Twenty years ago it would have been daring, but in this modern era of actual documentaries this subject matter strangely as it may read, deserves an actual documentary not a pseudo docu-drama.
The film begins in semi-grainy black and white with radio reports of Regan era news indicating our lead Raquela was confused as a young boy and grew to become a transsexual male. Raquela played by Raquela then appears to be directly interviewed stating this is a true accounting of her life. But is it?
With slow pacing and meaningless visuals of Raquela thinking or talking to people in her life that have no real impact we are meant to get the impression she has a life she is at peace with but has serious struggles because of his/her decision to live the life of a transsexual. The term ladyboy is used through-out filming however research shows that actual transsexuals find this term demeaning. The director claims to be sympathetic to the transsexuals plight so why allow a known term so offensive to transsexuals to be used throughout ... more»
Hi Readers. Today I'd like to write a little introspective. Hopefully you'll find some meaning in it for your own life.
I'm single man with two children. I was once a single man with no children. I was once a young boy with dreams.
One day my brother died, well he took his own life. And this had a profound impact on me. I won't say exactly how, that's my secret. But despite that affect, I was deep inside a good natured young man with dreams I believed could come true if I worked towards them.
Then I had a child and life changed in a blink of an eye. Again I was deep inside still a guy with a fun loving outgoing attitude, just more serious about what was most important. I had priorities. Then I married. Again, still the same person in many ways but I needed to make changes so that both myself and my wife would be happy.
I prospered during marriage in some ways, in other ways I was denied some happiness. That's life. But again, things changed. And again deep inside I was a guy with a zest for life and good spirit.
Through-out my life I've had let downs, betrayals and misfortune. But I've never lost my spirit to be happy. I must say being a parent has been a simple solution to happiness. Maybe it's the reason for my continued happiness...
Through-out it all I've been happy knowing who I was. I've been proud of who I am and what I accomplished. Not for others but for myself. From the days in a band to making a spot on a football team and so much more. And yes, my greatest achievement is my children.
If you've read my blog, you've seen a great deal of ... more»
For all you front runners out there... just a few games left in the season and this true Philadelphia Phillies fan has one thing to say.
Bye bye New York! While I love Manhattan, I'm tickled pink to see the obnoxious Mets fans driving down to Philly get another smack in the face of reality. You smug people! You figured the National League East was your birthright this year.
Well, you may win it yet, but you'll have to earn it.
Again the words are what draw me. Great lyrics, great story arch.
I once told someone, "I've been poor before, I can handle it, you can't." This song makes me think of the hardship we all endure when we suffer from hubris. Just look at the world we live in. From Michael Jackson's Neverland Estate being sold at auction because he overspent, to those middle class people across America losing homes in this housing crises. When will we ever realize the grass isn't always greener and when will we learn to be happy with what we have?
And at worst... Enjoy the good while you have it. It may not always last. Coldplay sums it up here in a way...
Can't help but want to wax over the little things today... My youngest started tying his shoes this week without help for the first time. It reminds me of the day we took off his training wheels. My oldest son is happy too, but mostly because he doesn't have to do it for his brother any more. LOL
But it makes me think. How often these moments come and go in our lives and when they are gone, we can lose them forever. Certainly when my children are 20 or 30 they will never remember or care about when they individually learned to tie their shoes. But I do. I always will. The magic of remembering the looks on both their faces the day they got it on their own without any help. Not much about them is exactly the same when it comes to first times of doing things. But in tying shoes... I can see them both looking up at me after pulling the knot tight... "Dad!"
Meanwhile there are so many things I witness them do together and those moments are also ones I remember vividly. Just a couple weeks ago they were at a birthday party at a rock climbing gym. They both did me proud and that competive brotherly spirit wasn't overbearing. They supported each other and THAT is something about them I will remember a lifetime as well. It really is the little things. You just have to slow down to see them and appreciate them. The moments you get are the moments you make.
You want these moments to last a lifetime because they grow up so fast. I am very proud of my children today.
I realize a number of people have asked when I'm going to write again. Well.... I have been. Elsewhere. But I'm now about to start posting articles here and elsewhere based on the work I'm doing as a writer.
For instance this next week I'm screening the soon to be released movie: "The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquella" which has not hit theaters yet.
NYC Screening:
Tuesday, September 16th @ 6pm
Then there is the new release of Keane's third album Perfect Symmetry. Which I'll be writing a review of and hopefully an interview with the band in support of Perfect Symmetry. I've been forwarded an advanced copy of Keane Curate A Night For War Child DVD which I'll be posting a review of rather soon.
So please... stay tuned. I'll be posting a good deal of articles as I do own the rights to the articles I publish elsewhere. I have just been so busy here and there and with family, dating etc... It's not been as easy as before to post things at my personal blog.
1. Because the Bush Doctrine is NOT written by the Bush Administration, it's the product of the press. The Press has defined the Bush Doctrine.... four times over.
2. She didn't know the Bush Doctrine because she doesn't follow it. ...So where do the ads of four more years of Bush even make sense?
Meanwhile I hear, "Let's not play politics as usual" while they are being played. I was on the fence on Obama, I was. Believe me or not, I don't care. I live in Delaware a state worth nothing in electoral votes. And even worse, who cares how I vote? But if this crap keeps up, Obama's use of the democratic attack machine will turn me off to any message he may have worth hearing.
It appears Republicans and Democrats are going to cut the country in half again. I really wish we didn't even have a two or more party system. I hate the General Election years. Friends bicker, families stress, this is not America. We should do better.
I'm watching the ball game tonight. Just relaxing. My son is away today... I played paintball then skated twelve miles, people watched in the park and visited with friends. My mind and body are fried. I'm just relaxing.
Then a commercial comes on that didn't just wake my senses, it took me back in time. I won't say what it's about or what it's selling; not important. There is this guy, he's in the hospital while his wife if sleeping and next to her is their newborn baby in his Plexiglas crib ...right near her side. He reaches in and cradles his baby. His baby looks at him and he has that epiphany moment where he knows what is life is all about. Life is bigger than him. If you are a parent hopefully you've been there.
And this took me back in time when my second son was born. It was an innocent time. I can't put it any other way. Maybe I was naive, maybe I just wanted to believe my life was perfect. It doesn't matter. What matters is that moment. The entire afternoon of my son's birth is etched in my mind. A long video of events from my wife calling me in the woods telling me it's time and us talking while I changed to us driving the convertible to the hospital with the top down. A traffic jam was at the mall. A plain clothes police officer displayed a furious face at me as we drove down the side of the road, then as we neared him he could see my wife with in her passenger seat leaning back with her belly full. His emotions flashed in an instant to empathy if not embarrassment. He waved us through as fast as he could.
Not that anyone of my readers will actually do this, but I recommend learning to dance. Once you do, you get out and dance and meet a lot of great people. And if you are afraid to learn, consider this. If you take classes as I have, you will find that in those classes, everyone switches partners all night. You get to dance with and meet new people that you might be afraid to approach prior.
Then when you have learned to dance you find you are a commodity. Men more so than women, (sorry ladies). It seems fewer men learn to dance or know how to dance and go out to dance. It makes for some great attention guys. LOL
Really though... Friday nights and dancing. That sentence holds some punch don't it? Sorta romantic eh? Take from a former romantic, dancing confidently with a woman following your every move is tiny relationship that has an exciting beginning middle and end. If only love were the same... :)
And after you learn to dance. Male and females... go and take more lessons. The journey never ends.
The point of such a headline and article is to once again make out Americans or in this case the evil Republican Party of Americans as imbeciles, backwoods thinkers, dim, over-patriotic, and the list can go on of negative attributes.
The representation of last nights speech by Governor Sarah Palin is at best unfair and at worst propaganda to fight against our country being anything remotely close to classy. No offense to the British biased media but America has come a long way from the typical 'stupid' American wandering other countries in sneakers and bad shirts with dress socks on while wearing shorts. And we certainly don't expect others to speak English while visiting other countries. In fact, we do more keeping to our own borders as we know how unwelcome we are treated in most other countries.
We got the message.
Now these other countries expect us to run our elections based on the needs of the world or their fickle desires?
America gets it more than you know.
To my fellow Americans, Republican or Democrat. Read the article above and realize what we face. Today it was a Republican facing ridicule. Tomorrow it could be a Democrat and be warned, should either Democrat or Republican be voted to the White house this fall, either one will be expected to do the worlds bidding or made a fool of.
Sad that our country has helped so many countries around the world and this is the reward we reap.
You have to wonder if kids know more than adults. My two sons have been harping on me for weeks to vote for McCain. I've been undecided for months. Not that I love McCain, and certainly not that I'm endeared to Obama. They both have strengths and weaknesses. Obama's choice in Biden helped on foreign policy but anyone from Delaware knows, despite Biden's so called strength of foreign policy, he's still a guy that says ridiculous things that he looks just as bad later explaining.
Which leads me to Sarah Palin. I've watched Good Morning America's Democrat leaning workforce attack Governor Palin since the weekend after McCain announced her as his running mate choice. I purposely recorded Governor Palin at the Republican Convention on ABC just to hear how Diane Sawyer and crew would react to whatever Governor Palin had to say.
It all started with Rudy Giuliani going after Obama on substance. Impressive points and serious attack words were involved. It's politics I get it.
Then Sarah Palin took the stage. Like everyone unfamiliar with her, I wanted to see if all the hype was founded. In a word, Wow! She stood on one hell of a resume, she was no shrinking violet and she was real.
I've never heard a Vice Presidential speech spoken so well. Not by any man and yes this was a woman. As a man I had my guard slightly up because I wanted to know that she was of substance and not just a pretty face. Don't get me wrong, I wanted her to be good and she was. My point is that we men love pretty faces and it clouds our judgment, or should I say, "can" cloud our judgment. Point after point, Sarah Palin outlined where she came, from what she accomplished ... more»
I'd like to study the word extraordinary as it relates in my world.
To me the word evokes the idea of something or someone being the best, almost unreachable. Certainly special. To say the word extraordinary is never by chance, and rarely the opportunity arises. After all, who do I know that is extraordinary? What in my life have I been a part of that is extraordinary. When you think about it, the word is only special as a whole. Break it down and it seems trite; extra ordinary. The alliteration in two words makes it dull and hackneyed. Say it as one word without emphasis between the two words, say it fluently and it hits you; extraordinary!
Which brings me to who and what in my life have I found that special? I mean, for me when I was a young boy in my teens I recall laying atop my bunk bed looking out the window over the trees into the night sky thinking, "Who is for me?" That vision in my mind had no face, but did have meaning. I wanted a best friend for life. Pandora's box was opened. I wanted someone I could trust and count on. Someone extraordinary. She'd have to be, because what I had hoped for bordered on fantasy. She would be a princess to me. A woman that was not just smart and cultured, but athletic and poised. The ultimate tomboy in a dress. A girl that would be my equal. Those visions of such a woman meant every girl I'd ever date would be held against that standard.
On dates, they never knew I was evaluating them against such high expectations. This was no way for a young man to live. Heck... only now after being divorced and dating do I ... more»
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lars Hindsley is a self-employed single full time father, a writer, a non conservative Republican, a reformed idealist (a compromisationalist), ex-musician, God fearing cynic that could more easily be described in two words as a "Rugged Intellectual".
Lars writings range from "how to" articles to commentaries and advice. You'll find movie reviews and video picks of the day side by side with serious writings.
Lars offers perspective from an Anglo-Christian moral position while never lording over anyone unlike himself. Lars is of the opinion that if you are going to complain, you should offer a solution. His perspective on the world is that many of us fight societal evolution to frustrating ends without a genuine understanding of what it is we are all up against.
Reading his articles should provide you with positive energy towards living out your day. You may not be able to change the world but you can navigate it to live a rich and rewarding life. Enjoy Lars’ works, there are years of writings to choose from.
Again the words are what draw me. Great lyrics, great story arch. 
