Thursday, August 25, 2011

Update

Recent viewings:

Stolen Kisses-Good times
Source Code-Love Duncan Jones, good sci-fi
The Lincoln Lawyer-not as good as the book
Sucker Punch-that's how I felt
The Eagle-Surprised I liked it
Faster-Quick and easy viewing
Limitless-Who da' thunk it, not too shabby
Take Me Home Tonight-or don't
You Again-Ugh
Wild Target-check it out
Fish Out of Water-highly recommended
Tangled-Wow, unexpected goodness
A Summer in Genoa-nice, melancholy film, beautiful film
I Love you Phillip Morris-see it
Jack Goes Boating-Uncomfortable, the point?
The House of the Devil-Good 21st century 80's horror
Skyline-Blech
Paris-good not great
Harry Brown-very good
Secretariat-hmmm I wonder what happens
Gigantic-odd
In the city of Sylvia-Brilliant
Resident Evil: Afterlife-can I get this hour and a half back?
Killers-one funny scene
Howl-Pretty good
Valhalla Rising-I liked it, you may not
Bronson-Tour de force
Takers-I don't remember this
Amarcord-of course, brilliant

Looking back

We are shackled by our technologies.
An addiction most unbecoming.

At what point does experience outweigh
   our feelings?

Folded, softly upon itself, now
   It's time to be, here.

Fully aware of this moment,
   and the moments to come.

Rain beats down, 100% chance
   that I'll later need a respite.

Nothing scripted, yet, what?
   Hopes?  of something different?
But enabled to embrace the largest
   difference, It's better,
     and as it should be.

Buzzing, and creeping by,
   at 60 miles an hour.
Slowing to an ending of
  foot on pavement long been
   trampled by
    countless others.

Still new to this moment,
    this experience, it
WILL exist as just it is when
    you first meet a feeling.

Bridges crossed, and paths
  travailed.
Intersecting the lives of others,
   flipped upside down to show my world,
on its end, and theirs immediately upstanding.

Random pints of luxurious lager,
   soaking my
    throat one moment,
     to be in an empty
        alleyway the next.

Early morning rise to
  be left wandering/wondering
   yet again.

Thinking of these things that
   aren't here, shouldn't be,
    couldn't, can't.

Endless streets filled with strangers
  that feel like friends.

Waiting becomes the way of the day.
Without apprehension,
   that's reserved
  for the repetition of
    continuous daily routines.

Tom Jones is telling me I'm crazy.
I'm killing Tom Jones with my mind.
While simultaneously lip-syncing to Tom Jones.



Friday, August 5, 2011

From "Vagabonding" by Rolf Potts

Was reading today, and found this excerpt, speaks for itself.



..."For some reason, we(Americans) see long-term travel to faraway lands as a recurring dream or an exotic temptation, but not something that applies to the here and now.  Instead--out of our insane duty to fear, fashion, and monthly payments on things we don't really need--we quarantine our travels to short, frenzied bursts.  In this way, as we throw our wealth at an abstract notion called 'lifestyle,' travel becomes just another accessory--a smooth-edged, encapsulated experience that we purchase the same way we buy clothing and furniture...--no combination of one-week or ten-day vacations will truly take you away from the life you lead at home.
   "Ultimately, this shotgun wedding of time and money has a way of keeping us in a holding pattern.  The more we associate experience with cash value, the more we think that money is what we need to live.  And the more we associate money with life, the more we convince ourselves that we're too poor to buy our freedom.  With this kind of mind-set, it's no wonder so many Americans think extended overseas travel is the exclusive realm of students, counterculture dropouts, and the idle rich.
   "In reality, long-term travel has nothing to do with demographics--age, ideology, income--and everything to do with personal outlook.  Long-term travel isn't about being a college student; it's an act of common sense within society.  Long-term travel doesn't require a massive "bundle of cash"; it requires only that we walk through the world in a more deliberate way."