mushinnoshin

I know I’m a bit hard on the Christians sometimes. It’s hard not to be when you live in these parts and see virtually all of the most fucktarded things get themselves attached to it. Just the latest example: Aunt B points us to this atrocious story about some bloodthirsty kid who’s been raised to be proud of savagely & brutally murdering an animal (hey, he only shot it 8 times then chased it for three hours) in a “game preserve” (read: overgrown petting zoo with a decidedly morbid twist) — and sure enough, “He just finished the sixth grade on the honor roll at Christian Heritage Academy”. Apparently “Thou Shalt Not Kill 101″ isn’t a required course.

But I do realize that such things have more to do with statistics than Christianity. I mean, given that 80+% of the country claims to be Christian, it would follow that 80+% of the country’s asshats will also claim to be Christian. Although I’m not certain this explains seemingly high correlation between evil organizations and Christianity, nor does it account for the fact that religion is supposed to be about reducing shithead-iness — still, the point is that I do realize that the vast majority of Christians are decent, good-hearted, regular people. And who knows, perhaps if I lived in Asia, I’d be faced with seeing a lot of vapid douchebags saying and doing horrible things in the name of the Buddha.

I do have a point that I’m trying to amble towards. Maybe I’ll get there. Basically I just want to say “Compare and Contrast”: Jesus Camp versus Into Great Silence.

See there’s basically two types of Christians that I like. The first are your everyday esoteric Christians. They understand the bible as being essentially literature, a set of stories and metaphors trying to teach a basic set of ethical principles by which they try to understand and enhance their own lives. I may vehemently disagree with (and blame a whole lot of the world’s problems on) some of those principles, but that’s a discussion that can be had rationally, without vitriol.

The second kind are the ascetics — like the monks at the Grande Chartreuse. First I have to respect them for putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak. I mean to really give up everything to become a disciple on a lifelong search for Truth — that’s hardcore. Second, although they tend to talk like evangelicals, I suspect they really hold more esoteric interpretations, and just sound like they take everything literally because they’re using the vocabulary of the metaphors. I mean how could you spend your days chanting, praying, and essentially meditating, without it becoming a quest for the knowledge that comes from inside? In my more presumptive and probably offensive moments I’m tempted to take a path not terribly far from what magniloquence describes here by asserting that their God is little more than an anthropomorphism of the Tao. Or, “The Force”, for you Star Wars fans.

Which brings me to the bow I’d like to tie around this one. I believe it was Mike who introduced me to the movie Human Traffic with this delicious quote:

The Emperor… wants to conquer outer space. Yoda… wants to explore inner space. That is the fundamental difference between the Light and Dark side of the Force

And it’s also the fundamental difference between the authoritarian nutjobs at Jesus Camp and the beautiful and genuine dedication of the monks from Into Great Silence.

Well I’m a day late posting about B’s Beantown Bash, and it’s already well documented by most everyone else that was there, so there’s not much I can add. It was a blast, at least the parts I can remember. And according to Kate it sounds like the parts I don’t much remember were pretty awesome as well : )

It was great to meet Mack, Ginger, Shauna, Chris, and Ivy and great to see Aunt B, Jag, Hutch, Michael, and Kat again. And I’m really sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet John Lamb, or to talk to Mary Mancini again (she might remember me as the guy who gave the pro-3rd party speech at her 2004 event at the Belcourt). Oh, and I really meant to have a conversation with Brittney about how my maternal family name is ‘Gilbert’, and so I’ve wondered if we might be distant cousins or something. Very very very distant cousins of course, I mean otherwise my crush on her would be totally creepy, and we can’t have that : )

Anyway, I didn’t even have time to nurse my hangover before heading out for Sunday in Smyrna at the lake with Mike and Cory and a few of their friends. Did some lake-swimming and some football-throwing — possibly the first time since the 80s on both counts. And drank much more beer. Oddly enough I feel fine today…

The prequel to the weekend was a play Friday night called Bad Dates at the Darkhorse. It was cute, light fare. In the end she realizes that she actually likes the weird but sorta cute Buddhist that she had initially rejected, so I can’t argue with that : )

On sort-of related subjects, I think I’m going to try and get out the Belcourt for Into Great Silence today. Repenting for the weekend’s indulgences and all that.

• Penne pasta instead of rice in tonight’s soup was a nice change of pace. Jalapeños on the other hand were a very bad idea. At least, the slices-in-a-jar type were a bad idea, because it wasn’t the spiciness that spoiled it, but the pungent vinegar-iness which I suppose is mostly from the juice they’re stored in. Lessons learned and all.
• I finally saw Jesus Camp tonight. Man these people are some scary freaks. I think it was all summed up pretty well when the preacher was being interviewed on the radio show near the end and says something about how the bad thing about democracy is that everyone has equal rights. I noticed something was mentioned about Colorado Springs being a hotbed for this stuff, which struck me just because that city also features prominently in Fast Food Nation, which I’m in the middle of reading still. It would probably take a real stretch to make a connection, just seemed like an interesting coincidence. And though I feel bad for succumbing to a horrible stereotype, I couldn’t help but giggle every time Ted Haggard used the word “fabulous”.
• Lysistrata is absolutely hysterical, go see it while you still can. If for no other reason, go just to irritate the TCPR mongoloids. I bet the Jesus Camp folks would hate it too.

And lookie! Our bi-annual karate pics are in. I totally hate the way I look in photos, but this one didn’t come out too bad I suppose:

And I think it may be at least a little bit improved from two years ago:

After lunch, I headed in to the UC Berkeley campus. I took the tour they give for prospective students (hey, you never know, right? : )

It was a very good tour. Being that it was part sales-pitch, the guide of course made a point of telling us about some of the school’s accomplishments, mentioning factoids like how the school has two elements of the periodic table named after them (Berkelium and Californium), pointing out the “Reserved for Nobel Laureate” parking, and so forth. I was disappointed that she didn’t seem to know anything about BSD Unix or Berkeley’s other contributions to open source and computer science, but c’est la vie.

She took us inside a few buildings, like the Museum of Paleontology, where we got to meet their T-Rex :

Don’t worry, wingnuts — I’m sure he doesn’t believe in you either. He had a nickname that I can’t remember. I want to say “Steve”, but I don’t think that’s right. She also took us into the Doe Library:

That painting in the background is the original Washington Rallying the Troops at Monmouth, a companion piece to the more well known Washington Crossing the Delaware. I was hoping to have time after the tour to come back and see the Emma Goldman Papers, but it wasn’t to be. I was disappointed that the tour guide knew not of Emma, either. Sigh.

Of course she did tell us some about the school’s architecture, and pointed out the Sather Tower:

Apparently you can go inside and up to the top, another thing I wish I’d had time to do after the tour. We also discussed some of the beautiful and distinct landscaping; in particular these unusual trees, a favorite of the original architect, are a prominent feature:

Of course much was made about the school’s history as a center for protest and activisim. She showed us these doors from an administration building:

Apparently the story is that during one protest, the students locked the administration inside by chaining the doors shut; the door handles have since been removed on two sides of the building in remembrance.

Our guide also took us to Sproul Plaza, where many of the free-speech protests took place:

At the plaza we saw this marker, for which the space above has been legally declared outside the jurisdiction of any authority, to ever be a symbol of free speech:

And what college campus is complete without a Free Speech Movement Cafe?

I joked about being a prospective student, but I’m not sure it’s a joke. Absolutely if I could go back and do things over, I would try to get in to this school. And certainly, moving to California to be a thirty-five year old freshman wouldn’t be the most unusual thing I’ve done in my life…

OK, getting back to the trip –

So Monday I hopped in the car and trekked up 880 to spend some time in Berkeley. I spent the morning wandering through the city itself, down University Ave and some of the neighboring areas west of campus.

Walking through the residential areas, I was overwhelmed by the tremendous greenwalls and urban gardens that defined the corridors:

And of course the fantastic historic architecture:

Now, the above house is one of the oldest in the neighborhood, a historic landmark built in 1876 nicknamed the Morning Glory Cottage, but even the “newer” developments (which I would guess were mostly 30s, 40s, etc…?) all tended towards the same sort of highly stylized classic designs. Truly a lovely area just to stroll through.

As I did so I encountered several neighborhood residents out for walks, bike rides, etc, and was struck by the radiant friendliness of each and every one. I think life in Berkeley must be good for the soul : )

Actually I wonder if the omnipresent Hindu influence on the area has something to do with it; one of the folks I encountered was in fact Indian, and while the shops & restaurants in the area certainly represented a very diverse population, the Indian / Hindu presence seemed dominant — hence, the Krishna Copy Center:

(I can’t resist: “when you need your copies in a Hare”… : )

Lunch at a vegan cafe seemed an appropriate way to cap a beautiful morning roaming Berkeley the city, so I ventured in to the Cafe Gratitude:

Honestly the place was a tad gimmicky, but in a touching and charming sort of way. The waitress set me up with a pitcher of distilled water and silverware rolled in a natural, unbleached cloth napkin; I didn’t ask but wouldn’t be surprised if it was hemp or some such fiber. Here’s where it gets really cute: the menu names each item a self-affirmation — “I am Healthy”, “I am Caring”, “I am Beautiful”, etc. And when they bring you the food, they announce it as such: “Jon, you are Chipper and Plenty”, “Who is Cool, Heroic, and Celebrating?”, etc. I had a lovely Faux Pho miso soup and a lasagna, hence “I am Warm and Fabulous”.

All that said, I wasn’t wowed by the food. It was obvioulsy very well-prepared in a gourmet style, it was just a little bland for my tastes. But I do like my food very spicy, so perhaps I’d have done better to be Elated… I will say though, the waitress gave me a couple of free samples of their smoothies, and those were fantastic. I wish I remembered what flavors they were.

When all is said and done I would very much describe Berkeley as something like Belmont Blvd made into an entire town. I am inclined to think that much of Belmont Blvd’s flavor in fact probably does come through the influence of Berkeley as the image of the quintessential college experience as sometimes projected from Hollywood, representative of the “Californication” of America — I would say an example of how that’s not necessarily a bad thing : )

One should probably be careful when applying this quote to bathroom facilities:

“If we cannot go everywhere, we cannot go anywhere.” — Marca Bristo

OK, here’s one for my botanically knowledgeable friends — these things have sprouted up in my backyard. Now, things that I can’t identify growing in my yard is pretty much par for the course, but these are weird in that they seem way too random to be something the previous owners intentionally planted. There are 8 of them in the yard, four in each cluster, plus maybe a few more in the neighbor’s yard & in the common greenway behind the yard.

The tallest ones are approaching 7 feet, if they aren’t there already. And they did this in under three weeks, because I mowed over those spots before I left for CA. WTF, any ideas? It’s not bamboo is it? that would be cool, I just can’t imagine how bamboo started growing in my yard. Surely my floor boards aren’t breeding… I have this unsettling feeling like they must be some sort of radioactive alien species and this is the part of the movie where the audience is screaming at me to rip the devils out of the earth before they consume us all or something…

Quiz found through Nathan:

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery – when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

–

I really should learn to read tarot cards. I’ve known several people that could, and though I don’t take them too seriously, I’ve always thought they were fun. And, like the I-Ching, they can serve as a tool to help you analyze your own situations just by systematically helping you frame your questions. Or something like that.

Falling behind on the California photos & posts — where does the time go? Well here’s a quick one –

As mentioned, I made a run up to San Francisco on the Sunday night before heading back to Santa Clara for the convention; meanwhile, Mike had arrived a few days earlier and was in ‘Frisco as well. So we met up at a bar on pier 23 called, coincidentally I’m sure, Pier 23. Let me preface by saying that the sensitive liberal feminist in me almost feels guilty for posting the following, but the testosterone filled juvenile in me wins. Besides, they gave us these postcards free and I don’t have any other pics of the place. Plus we sent one just like it to Cory :)

Anyway, it was a cool place, we got to look out over the bay from their outdoor patio, listen to some live jazz, and get acquainted with a tasty local brew called Anchor Steam. We would become very acquainted with those over the week — well, those and Sierra Nevada, which is already one of my usual favorites, but as it turns out it’s brewed about 200 miles away in Chico, and seems to be on tap everywhere you go out there.

We wound up coming back to Pier 23 for dinner Monday, though mostly because we just happened to be near by when the time came. But back to Sunday, later that night we found our way to Tiernan’s Irish Pub:

Tiernan’s was the first of at least two if not three (the memory gets a little fuzzy…) Irish pubs we would hit before the week was out, but it was by far the best. This one featured a live band churning out some raucous Celtic drinking music:

The band featured the one I called Zebra Girl, a short little fireball in an all-zebra-striped outfit who sang and wailed on the accordion with the frenetic energy of a punk rocker, often standing I think on a table or something. She was actually in this picture off to the left, but I had to crop her out because she got wiped out by the shadows.

Sidebar: some random dude bought us both a beer. At another pub the bartender hooked us both up with a free shot. I think I like hanging with the Irish :)

Let us briefly interrupt the California recaps to write up the weekend –

• Thursday — 3rd meeting in the South Nashville Planning process. Pretty uneventful. They showed us maps marking out their proposed changes to the land use policies (not zoning, but the guidelines that encourage zonings) and basically just made sure we were cool with it all. It does look like they want to take more design issues into consideration along Nolensville Pk, and move more of the Nolensville/Thompson intersection & Armory/Sidco areas from industrial use to public commercial. All Very Good Things. They also gave us a handout which I suppose we’re going to discuss at the next meeting which indicates some proposed roadway changes — notably including one that I’ve been begging for, connecting Armory to McCall/Antioch Pk, giving us another route across the railroad and making it easier to get to 100 Oaks & I-65. Woo-hoo! Too bad they can’t make all the connections I’d like to see, but this is the big one.
• Friday — The Constant Wife presented by ACT1 at the Darkhorse. Another comedy of manners — very touching & verry funny. Kay Ayers-Sowell as Constance and Martha Manning as her mother were particularly engaging.
• Saturday afternoon I decided to try a produce run at the K&S World Market. Most of the produce seemed very good, though maybe not up there with Plumgood — but it’s priced accordingly. Two bags of veggies & a package of tofu for $13? Nice. The real trick of course will be learning how to make use of some of their more exotic offerings. Although I think my next run is going to be at the Mediterranean grocery on Thompson that Lesley has recommended. We’ll see how it compares. It’s much closer, and I could easily bike to that one. Once I buy a bike, that is.
• Saturday night was a real treat, the Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville gave us an amazing bit of theater that combined dance, martial arts, music, poetry, and storytelling — I hate to gush but damn it was wonderful. That’s all I can say because no description I could give would do it justice.
• As for today, I’ve got a lawn to mow. And this afternoon I think I’ll take in the inaugural meeting of The Bhakti Yoga Society — not sure what to expect from that, we’ll see I suppose.