Illuminati, Global Elite, New World Order & other family stuff…

• most people have but a single mother, I had two. The one who reared me and Mary who showed me the meaning of acceptance and affection.  I think of Mary every moment of every day, I miss her terribly.  April 12th, this very special woman in my life passed away.  That’s it, now back to bile and venom.
• saw Dangerous Method. Mehh, Cronenberg is fast becoming a doofus behind the camera. What’s with Liz Hurley lite doing a chimp impression for half the film? It was a loose collection of scenes where most of the actors were being painfully earnest and striving to be deep, yawn. I enjoyed the post movie “where did the characters end up” stills.  So sad.
• I also saw The Rum Diary and thought that Johnny Depp did a great job acting as usual but he’s no more than competent these days because he just doesn’t have a Edward Scissorhands, Beeny & June or Ninth Gate anymore.  He’s lost his balls.  I’ve had it with Hunter biopics, he’s a modern day Don Quixote who wasn’t quite as tragic or eloquent.  Meh, gonzo this ya’ washed out, washed up, Hemingway light, angst ridden pseudo hippy cry baby.
• good gods Rock of Ages looks like Hollywood threw up on celluloid. Tom Cruise, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Mary J Blige & Catherine Zeta-Jones-Douglas, that’s right sweetie might as well add another hyphen to your name are all in this because their collective publicists got together and decided it would be fun.  A hard rock, movie version of Glee!  Come on you know that was brandied about at some scumbag producer’s office as the catch phrase that sold the damn thing to Warner Brothers!!
• the world is awash in easily digestible, and luke warm ideas and concepts. Nobody wants to think because it will keep them from continuing in their mundane and comfortable lives.  I know because I’m one of the sheep and I bleat along with the masses.  I sense the knife coming but don’t have the courage to start screaming before the slaughter.  I am, however, brave enough to know that the end is nigh, impending because I have been seeing it behind words, around phrases and under sentences.
• think happy thoughts fellow sheep.

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• Robert Pattinson’s life can’t be the perfect existence it seems to be. I understand that he’s a very pretty man, and seems to be a pretty good actor, however, he’s also judged mostly on his looks. As someone who isn’t trading on the currency of beauty I cannot sympathize, yet I’m reminded of Jim Morrison, he hated that he was so pretty. He was also painfully melodramatic in his writing both in song and poetry, and I feel as much for him as I do for Robert, I barely notice their angst at their travails concerning the world not taking them seriously enough.
• I do notice, but I barely care enough to do more than comment about it here, I may write about it someday.  A story about a painfully pretty man who has dreams of epic literature seeping out of his psyche yet doesn’t have the talent to bring it out and connect with the world.  It could be worse, both Robert & Jim may never have had their looks, and could be sharing their angst on a blog.
• there is one thing that always impresses me and I never fail to respect: hard work and determination. I don’t know about Jim but Robert does work constantly, and I do respect that.
• two others whose work ethic I respect are Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Nobody outworks those two, and though I’m not a big fan of either of their music, I do listen to and like some of their songs, nobody can doubt that they don’t quit, they just keep touring, doing appearances, writing and releasing new songs and are constantly in the public eye. That’s one thing I do share with them, I work all the time. I feel guilty if I’m not doing something, I just haven’t had much success in the things I’ve been working at.  Yet neither Katy nor Stephanie did for quite a while before either, so that’s heartening to me.
• can Madonna please go away already? She scares me with her veiny, leathery ripped arms and Joker face.  Why so serious Ms. Ciccone? Good lord she’s a very sad older lady who is desperately trying to remain relevant. Go away and reinvent yourself into a pleasant woman who might have something interesting to say or share if it weren’t for the randy grandma who keeps possessing her body. Yechhh!

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we are gearing up for the big movie season.  In the coming months we’re going to be inundated with trailers and previews of what Hollywood studios hope will be their money makers.  Here are some that look good to me and also look like a steaming pile of CRAP!!!

• Battleship? Oh jesus I don’t give a flying f–k about that film.  What movie industry pinhead thought that would be good? Did you also see who’s in it? Rihanna? Huh? Did I miss something here, why is Rihanna in any film, she’s a pop star who reportedly doesn’t think well enough of herself to stay away from her former abusive boyfriend. For shame girlfriend, not for the Chris Brown thing but for being in Battleship. YUCK
• and there’s MIB-3, going back to a well that wasn’t that deep to begin with. Will Smith is a decent actor, but this is just him mugging for the camera and doing a long Fresh Prince of Bel Air episode.  Pursuit of Happyness was a much better film this is just a long excuse to show special effects. So sad.
• there’s two Snow White films being released. One of them is Mirror Mirror, and stars Julia Roberts trying tooth and nail to hold onto her hot/talented woman crown. She won the Oscar for Erin something-or-other and has been the fresh young thing since Pretty Woman, but come on now this is just an exercise in some film exec trying to get on her good side. It just reeks of trying too hard to fit her into a mode that she’s moved past. Take a page out of Merry Streep’s script and do interesting and gripping films not Snow White regurgitations.
• with the proliferations of vampire this and vampire that, comes some jaded hollywood focus group’s idea of hitting all the bullet points of what will make a successful film with I Kissed a Vampire. Can’t you hear the Katty Perry song? & I liked it. God I hate my imagination sometimes, because it follows the obvious too easily.  That obvious is what this deluded rock/pop musical tries to do. There’s an older vampire who wants to show a younger one how to enjoy his immortality but the younger one falls in love with a mortal girl and both can’t stop singing about their lot. It’s Twilight, meets Vampire Diaries meets Gossip Girl meets Grease, meets my lunch all over the floor because this has made me throw up.
• so not wanting to leave this post with bile still poisoning my mouth there’s Safety Not Guaranteed. It’s about an investigative journalist team that looks into somebody who places an ad about going back through time. It’s inventive, sweet and heartfelt because it shows the fragility of a unreasonable dream. All the Hollywood blockbusters and formulaic story lines of the above prove how important that is.

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• Oprah you sniveling, prostrating bottom feeder. For years I had disliked and at times was irritated by this self righteous, know it all cheerleader. Last night I finally knew why.
• I don’t just talk the talk I walk the walk, as I’ve given the blowhard the benefit of the doubt on many of occasions, even last week to be exact.  No longer, no longer. Each time I see her turn my stomach I’ll skewer her here, and I won’t go for the easy fat joke.
• Last night she presented a story about Fairfield, Iowa a community that has gone TM. TM is Transcendental Meditation, a practice I’ve been following for the past few years,  three to be exact.  I’m however, not saying I’m an expert but I’m also qualifying that I have some knowledge about the subject.
• At the top of the story she showed a who’s who of TM and omitted the very reasons I started meditating: Howard Stern & David Lynch.  Some of the celebrities like Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Russell Simmons and Russell Brand, hey two Russells in a row – weird, were presented.  That’s all fine and good show them but also show a wider range of practitioners.
• Both Howard and David have been vocal and open ambassadors for TM for decades.  They have espoused the benefits to a following who wouldn’t ordinarily even think about mediating, especially an opinionated Greek, I know I don’t need the opinionated in there.
• She also didn’t show the obvious detractors to the TM community.   There have to be some residents who have questions and it would’ve been great to see how Fairfield dealt with dissension among their community. None of that was shown.
• I also had a big problem with how increased creativity is always being stressed as a byproduct of TM yet whenever practitioners are queried as to the benefits they’ve seen with their meditation they always quote the same answers.
• There was only one person in there that said anything that differed from the stock answers of being centered and quieting the mind.  She described it as the same thing I have noticed in my own behavior, it lets me be more myself.  I’ll explain.
• TM helps me care far less about the opinions of others about my actions or words. I still consider the feelings of others or what they may say but I don’t let them affect me. In the past I would be irritated to no end about Oprah and her pretty ode to her latest obsession. Now I just write a blog entry and move on.
• By the way do you remember the other obsessions she’s gone through? Her dieting, her book club, her exercising and running the marathon, her better eating.  TM is going to be just another flash in the pan distraction for her.

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• I’m not what you would call an Oprah fan.
• I’m a Howard Stern fan and he has lambasted Oprah over the years with my blessings.  He’s especially been on her case since she started her OWN programming just last year. She gave all her friends a program while she sat back and tried to take the moral high ground and did nothing.
• She must’ve been working behind the scenes or something, but the channel began to flounder without her direct involvement and she came back to bring up the ratings.
• My wife watched her come back and I laughed that she did a 180 on the morals she promised to adhere to when she began her channel. She had said she wouldn’t be doing low brow programming again and wanted to do uplifting programming with her shows.
• A few months into it she’s doing Chas Bono’s gender reassignment doc, brings on Rosie O’Donnel and who knows what else.  I laughed and snickered. Until last night.
• I watched her interview Lady Gaga and was entranced. Not by Oprah’s interviewing style but by the interview itself. She got the pop star to be accessible and portrayed her as more than a wildly experimental artist.
• I especially enjoyed the portrayal of her parents. Her mother was a real nice woman, and her father though never answering questions, was felt.  He was a force and both parents were shown to have nurtured her aspirations.
• It was really touching to see that such creativity was given every opportunity to grow and I found it completely alien. I will never understand how such a thing can happen. It brought tears to my eyes to know that such openness and élan can occur.
• I’ve personally have had to nurture and protect my creative impulses despite the world’s indifference or open hostility. The best I could describe of my parents involvement in my creativity is confused looks or uncaring for it. Not derision but simple apathy to it.
• To be honest they never knew any better but I’m just saying that I totally couldn’t understand Lady Gaga’s wonderful parents and their complete involvement in her passion for creation.
• There have been many who have called her rise to prominence lucky, but I think the real luck is that her parents were so giving of their attention and their full & complete support.
• Wow, that Stephanie is a really lucky girl.

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Addendum: I had wanted to put this up earlier and thought I did but instead of clicking Publish I clicked Save Draft. Damn thick Spartan fingers.

Part of the Valentine’s Day Blog Spot hosted by Book Luvin Babes.

I’ve been with the same woman for closing in on 20 years. I don’t see that changing and I know her enough to say that any public statement of my love for her would make her uncomfortable.  Suffice to say that’s not what you’ll be reading here. Instead I’ll tell you about a different type of interaction, of human kindness and civility.

• I usually take the train or drive to get around.  I haven’t used the subway, or as we call it in Montreal, the metro for at least a few months.  I had occasion to do so and thought nothing of it until last Friday.
• I sat in a single seat, opposite another single seat, and listened to Howard on my iPhone.  I barely noticed an older, slight woman sit directly in front of me and pulling the hood of her winter coat down decided to catch a nap.  A few stops later she looked blearily up and in french, asked me how many stops are there till Berri UQAM stop. That was when I caught a whiff of booze on her breath.  Berri was a good 12 stops further and I told her so to which she was surprised I even acknowledged her.
• I hadn’t noticed before, but she was dressed shabbily and looked incept. I didn’t think she was homeless because she told me she lived near the metro station.
• Two seconds later she made a motion under her eye of a tear and smiled nervously. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was sad, she couldn’t remember the last time anybody took the time to speak to her. She then promptly thanked me and said I was kind and a gentleman.
• This unsolicited praise and uncomfortable situation was very surprising to me. I became further uncomfortable when in between stating how lucky my wife must be and how you don’t see civility like mine anymore she told me she wanted to die and that her life was full of torture. I told her I didn’t know what to say, I just met her and she shouldn’t put that much stock in people she just met.
• As I got up to get to my own stop she thanked me again for talking to her and she reached out to shake my hand.  Before I could understand what she was doing she took my hand in both of hers and kissed it like I remember kissing the hand of priests during Easter Mass.  I shakily said goodbye and went on my way to work.
• This wasn’t a romantic story, but it was one of compassion and kindness. I spoke and treated this drunken, overly affectionate old lady with the same civility as I would’ve anybody else and she was beyond grateful. Despite the looks and stares, and more than an occasional snicker I didn’t get up and go somewhere else in the metro car as some people nervously did but I stayed and showed her some simple human interaction. It wasn’t profound or life altering on my part, but it obviously, at least made her day.

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As seen on perezhilton.com & joblo.com & athanos1964 & howardstern.com& geektime.com & enigmaTV & JAKonrathblog

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• So I’ve returned to this here blog in this new year of 2012, with an apology to the few who might read it. I haven’t had much to say that I haven’t been able to vent through Twitter, @mad_gods.  I get it all off my chest without having to go into any great depth.
• until now.
• I began watching a new BBC series titled, well I’ve retitled it, Sherlock Holmes: 2012, shades of Camelot 3000 for the comic book savvy few out there. This series is AMAZING! I’ve never been much of a great detective-phile but garsh this updating has an immediacy that I’m sure the original Sir Arthur Conan serials must’ve for Victorian England. Top notch stuff and it completely works on a very psychological and modern level, showing Sherlock as a, as he puts it himself, “high functioning sociopath”. Really cool.
• I’m looking forward to the return of Californication, or as I like to term it, Califuck and see what the self obsessed Frank Mooney does to screw up his life yet again. David Duchovny is better suited as a morose, brilliant writer than the porn obsessed and bookish Agent Mulder.
• Supernatural has also returned to a tepid welcome by me. It was ok, nothing superb about it.
• I’ve begun to get into Todd and The Book of Pure Evil, in a Wayne’s World, Evil Dead fanboy gleeful obsession.
• Castle is still great prime time, mainstream cerebral fodder.
• Where’s my Shakespearian biker drama at? I can’t wait for SAMCRO to return, Sons of Anarchy has got to be one of the best dramas on TV. Its family dynamics and crime plot twists are as I said Shakespearian in their depth and emotion, especially in the backstabbing, lying and competition for trust, honor and Jack’s love and attention.
• Howard’s back and I’m psyched that he’s gonna be going onto America’s Got Talent.  I couldn’t care less about the show until now but I’m so excited that the rest of the people in mainstream viewership will see what a great talent this guy is. Not his clever thoughts but just his full package of honesty, insight and self deprecation while at the same time knowing his worth as a performer. He can’t sing, he’s not the greatest actor but his mind knows how to be himself and present that better than anyone else out there.
• AMERICA & THE REST OF THE WORLD IS GONNA LOVE HOWARD!!! As his coolaid drinking acolytes already do.
• I’ve taken a good look around at other blogs and my own and I’ll be doing some additions and work arounds for this ho-hum site in the near future, stick around and find out.

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As seen on perezhilton.com & joblo.com & athanos1964& howardstern.com& geektime.com & enigmaTV & JAKonrathblog

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• Traditions is something you’ve got to be consciously practicing. I’ve felt a desire to do so but never really put much effort into it. This weekend I went over to my parents and asked my mother to show me how to make my favourite Xmas treat, Melomakarona. They’re a traditional Greek Xmas cookie that I love.  A great recipe is here, along with some great mouth watering pics:

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  Melomakarona Recipe

• So I made a batch with my mom and then decided to try it on my own.
• Let’s just say practice makes perfect. The first batch had too much of baking powder, in that I misread my own notes and added 5 tablespoons instead of 5 teaspoons. The next batch came out runny, not enough flour to keep them the right consistency.  The one after that I burned because, you’re supposed to leave them on broil for the last two or three minutes but I left them for too long and burned them.
• Now I’ve got two more batches to get it right. I’m confident I’ll do it.
• One of the great things about Melomakarona is that they’re dunked in a honey, sugar syrup right after the cookies cool down.
• When they’re done you sprinkle crushed walnuts and enjoy. Yet there are many who don’t know the last key step in making them AMAZING! Put them in the fridge and serve them cold. Oh Gods, they’re great!
• Years ago I also learned how to make my other weakness, something I eat, and eat and eat till I finish whatever of it I have on hand is: My Mom’s Rice Pudding.
• I now know how to make my two favourite desserts and that’s a dangerous proposition. I’ve known how to make Rice Pudding for years and occasionally make it but not too often because I’d keep eating it.
• I’ve capitalized Rice Pudding and Melomakarona because they’re THAT GOOD!
• I’ve made it for my neighbours and many times they finish it all in the same day.
• When I get the hang of the Melomakarona they’ll be that good too and I’ll not be able to make them too often because I’d eat them too.
• So I’ll leave whoever reads this blog with the skewed view I have on everything in my life. I know how to make myself VERY happy, but I don’t do it too often because I’d enjoy it too much and expect it. Like I stated, skewed.

Mad Gods – ReduxMadGods-Volume IMadGods-Volume IIMadGods-VolumeIIIMadGods-Volume IVMadGods-Volume V
As seen on perezhilton.com & joblo.com & athanos1964& howardstern.com& geektime.com & enigmaTV & JAKonrathblog

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