strange loops

I could fill a whole book with ideas about 'strange loops' cause they never get old to me, but I'll put my time into something else for now because Douglas Hofstadter has already done that. (The next time you are at Barnes and Noble have a look at Godel, Escher, Bach- An Eternal Golden Braid).

As the title gives away, it's a book that shows how connected (and even inseparable)concepts from the arts and sciences are. I actually believe the universe itself is a type of 'strange loop', but I'll save my thoughts on that for some other time. However, I do believe that many people feel a similar intuitive feeling about the universe without even having to know any of the science behind it. When people think of concepts like infinity for example, I think most come to some sort of understanding that some things must be circular for them to logically work out. It definitely makes your head spin to think about though. Just like a good shot of Jameson does. I suggest both at the same time.


So here's a couple of examples I always love to give because they are super simple but at the same time hard to wrap your mind around. The original form of this comes from an ancient Greek paradox (6 century BC!), known as the 'liar's paradox'.


Say this statement out loud and try to see whether you believe it is true or false.

"I am lying".


It may seem simple, but once you decide on it being true and take it as truth, you realize that you are admitting that you are actually lying. So then you decide it is false. But if it is false, then the statement would mean that you are telling the truth!! This will just sound like a bunch of words unless you really try it and think about it. It only takes a minute. DO IT!


Some might think this example doesn't make sense because it refers to itself (which is kind of the point), but to make it a little weirder and a little loopier here's a two parter fo' dat ass.


"The following statement is true. The preceding statement is false".


If you accept the first statement as being true and test it out, the second statement ends up making the first statement false. It continuously forces a flip flop in whatever decision you make concerning the validity of either sentence.


And what's crazy is that this isn't just some "trick", or play on words. When this logic was translated into mathematical and computational languages by Godel it literally turned the math world upside down, because it showed that math wasn't a language of absolute truth like we thought it was- that there would always be mathematical statements that could NEVER be proven, even in theory. When the full philosophical implications are understood (actually I'm not sure if anyone's realized them 'fully'), it drastically changes how one views reality.


Roger Penrose, one of the world's greatest mathematicians and physicists (who was awarded the nobel prize along with Stephen Hawking, (but isn't as famous cause he doesn't look like an alien or have a super cool robot voice), is one person who has written pretty extensively about this and similar concepts..


It was actually Penrose who described these sorts of concepts to M.C. Escher, who became super fascinated, and depicted them in what are now his most famous works. A rad example of how science inspires art. And then art in turn inspires thought on science.

Miranda July is cool blog

A few years ago I stumbled upon the film Me You and Everyone we Know at a random chain video store in the new release section and I'm really glad I picked it up cause I seriously can't remember the last time I laughed so hard I felt like I could be doing serious damage to my internal organs. Which is exactly what happened when I saw the now-infamous "back and forth" scene. Not because of just shock value, but because it was so honest. But also, yes, I gotta admit it was the fact it was totally unexpected too. And sure, we could all make a movie with a few over-the-top scenes that catch people's attention and have it do well. That's what most of Todd Solondz' films are in their entirety. Not that I don't like some of his movies, but this is completely different, and if anything, it's trying much less to grab you with a few off-the-wall scenes. The golden scenes are the ones in between the scenes that really make you laugh or shock you. The intro lays the mood for what the film really is perfectly. A good example that a low-budget doesn't impair your ability to make a nearly perfect film.
I've heard a some bash it for being overly-contrived and I feel sorry for those people. Because if anything, it's insanely true to life, and if they can't relate I can't imagine how amazingly robotic their existences must feel. Life is that strange at times. Strangely ordinary.

Think about your own life. Hopefully, for your sake, if you spliced up the last half a year of your life and took the most interesting scenes from an interconnected web of the people around you's lives as well, it'd be as interesting and colorful as this. Cause life is that real. It's so real, it seems hyper-real at times.

Here's my favorite scene from the movie. Actually, one of my favorite scenes. I'll leave the stranger scenes for you to discover on your own. No matter what you're into or who you are, I think you'd be inspired by her originality.

Ans moments like the fish on the car scene DO happen in real life! If you are confused by all this and are trying to figure out what I'm talking about then that's good, because hopefully you'll read this and go out and rent this or buy her book.

Almost everyone I've showed this too (besides the jaded haters of everything who are missing out on life because they are too busy criticizing whatever they can in a constant and pathetic, almost teenage-like attempt to one-up you) has gotten a huge crush on this lady. Cause she's friggin' insanely adorable. And she's not from ultra-celebrity planet. She's the girl you could meet anywhere and it wouldn't really seem out of the ordinary. She's the girl working at the bagel shop you get breakfast at everyday before work, or the person you strike up a conversation with at a lame and stuffy art exhibition cause she's the only one who seems down to earth. Or someone who works the check out line at a grocery store even. Nothing special, but that's what's special. She understands what's nice about life, almost from this super reflective and almost enlightened perspective, that's somehow sort of childlike at the same time in its simplicity. She prefers this view I believe. Oh, and did I mention she doesn't just star in it, she also wrote and directed it.



And maybe the movie alone won't convince you that she's someone worth staying up to date with. But it might interest you enough to check out her site, www.mirandajuly.com. And then her short stories. And then her book. And then her homemade youtube videos. And then I think you'll be sold. Cause what she illuminates are the same sorts of transient observations and thoughts that makes life interesting for all of us, except she's actually brought what we may not totally be conscious of thinking about to the surface. This kind of film allows you to understand how you can simply ride back and forth on a train all day, observing who gets on and off, listening in on random happenings in passenger's lives, looking out the window, etc., and be completely amazed with life.

So feel free to fall in love right now from learning how to make buttons the Mirandy July way.

Synecdoche, NY!! wooohoooooo!

Okay, so those who know me well know that I've been talking about this movie so much that asian friends have actually been able to calculate how much I've been peeing my pants with each new piece of information that comes out regarding this film. Just this morning, I had a wonderful piss all over myself and comforter in celebration of the official trailer release of Charlie Kaufman's new film Synecdoche, Ny. The lamp reflecting off it made it glisten like a well-crafted snowman in the sun that you proudly watch melt as the days get warmer in your younger years. Actually, I don't think I've peed on myself for as long as I can remember being in a bed, but for those who still do, please feel free to take pride in it by thinking of the snowman analogy above. Anyway, if there was a movie worth excreting bodily fluids over (which this film shows an excessive amount of, strangely), it would definitely be this one.

Now I'm not going to analyze it inside and out because there's going to be a million reviewers doing that who are actually getting paid for it. I will say this. I think it won't be fully appreciated by most right away. It'll be too dense for everyone on first viewing, and I'm definitely including myself when I say that. It will grow on you like a an acquired taste for a fine wine, or in my case, a sincere appreciation for a 40 of OE or 3.99 bottle of Andre ghetto champagne from food lion. As unsettling as this film may feel at first, you will grow an intense love for something hard to swallow, just like my love for shitty malt liquor.


(Catherine Keener's character is an artist who paints on a scale so small it must be viewed through magnifying lenses. Just one example of the colorful characters in this film)


I can already say this will take multiple viewings to appreciate. I can also say that I've never hyped any move up like I have this one. There has been no single filmmaker or writer that has tapped into my brain like Kaufman has with movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.


I'm not going to say much anymore, because for one, I don't know much more, but more importantly I'd like it to be a surprise for all of us, and hear people's take on it.
But I do think it's important that I post a couple things said by a couple reviewers who have seen it in order to get people to actually go out and watch this movie, approaching it with the attentive mindset it deserves. Or actually, demands.

"Caden doesn’t seem like the genius he sees himself as, and the inspiration triggered by the sudden blessing of complete artistic freedom may also be only a figment of his imagination. Whatever the case, Hoffman embodies him completely, forcing the audience to share his every physical and emotional wound."


"As Philip Seymour Hoffman’s consummate artist tears through his relationships and his grant money, accumulating doppelgangers and burning bridges, the unpleasantness of creation is laid bare time and again. That being said, if there’s any movie that I would excuse this kind of narrative breakdown in, it would be in a movie that attempts to cover so much ground that it ultimately becomes about how art hits its limitations when trying to encapsulate the totality of life."


That last sentence is my favorite. I should have written it. I should be getting paid for having a career that revolves around watching movies! How does one get that job?


And best of all, Jon Brion provides the score. The best film score composer ever in my opinion, and and even Kanye West was smart enough to realize this and grab this man for his string arrangements. (gotta admit he makes good choices for collaborators, e.g. daft punk- not sure why he's a jackass when it comes to just about everything else).


(official trailer)

I think this will really be a historical piece of cinema in the long run. Kaufman provides psychological twists and turns and strange loops inside layers of mentals fractals that would've made M.C. Escher's head spin. I'd go as far as to say this will be the most mind-bending movie of all time.


But no matter how much I dig this movie, I think I'll leave the theater feeling a little uneasy. Whoever watches it with me first is going to have to come back to my cozy pad and watch Narnia and Harry Potter until I can climb my way back into happy, magical land. I think what bothers me about the theme is that I feel like I could become the character. Many friends have heard fragments of my belief system relating to the universe and existence from time to time. It's a well-defined vision that has been there and evolving and refining itself in my mind for the last ten years. I'm just worried that it's something so big that I won't be able to get out in a way that does it justice before I die, partly due to the fact that I don't know if the English language is equipped with the words necessary to describe this spiritual belief system firmly rooted in science. More on that in the future; a short synopsis coming soon.


For now, go and see the film when it comes out next month. And let me know what you think.

WWJRD? (what would jesus really do?)

If I had to choose between saving the second coming of Jesus or my wife from being hit by a car, I'd have a tough time deciding. At first thought I'd say my wife, because I know for a fact that I'm not going to marry a woman unless I'm totally in love with her. In love with her in a way that makes me feel like I've taken a combination of all the best prescription drugs, put them in a blender, and snorted it immediately after I've trimmed my nose hairs to the shortest length possible. And by shortest length possible, I mean the shortest length in which they are still able to keep out harmful airborne agents…


But then i think again, and I feel like I should choose Jesus, because if he IS actually the son of God, and he HAS returned, then it means he certainly MUST be god… and if I save god surely he’ll spare my wife's life. But then I think to myself, "Is Jesus/God gonna be in the mood he was during the old testament or the new testament?" -you know, all that fire and brimstone stuff made him seem like a bit of a loose cannon.. now of course Jesus wasn't actually in the old testament but god was, and Jesus is part of the holy trinity which is god, so for all practical purposes they are one and the same.

So saving Jesus is kind of like flipping a coin. On one side I definitely save god, and also a have a 50/50 chance that my wife will be spared as well. On the other side of the coin i save my wife, who I must say is MUCH more attractive than Jesus and smells a bit nicer I’m sure, and if I save my wife and Jesus dies, then it might not really matter because he will still exist as god, and god might see my act of ultimate love for my wife as the epitome of all that is good and spare both of our souls. How could a forgiving god not?… But(!), he could be in one of those Sodom and Gommorah-moods and send us to the center of hell where it is deathly cold according to Dante, and I even hate cold pools…
So I have a 50/50 chance with that move too, but I decide to give god the benefit of the doubt that he's most likely an understanding guy, especially these days, ya know, post resurrection- so now I'm starting to go with saving Jesus and not my wife.


But then I realize that I would not be able to go on living without my wife who i am completely head over heels for so I would probably end up committing suicide from depression which would also secure me a spot in hell, so it appears that I'm stuck with a big dilemma. I seem to be screwed either way as far as the after-life is concerned.


So then with a split second left I wonder "what would Jesus do", or as more commonly seen on bumperstickers on the majority of cars in the South, WWJD?" (it can usually be found right under the confederate flag), and then I become extremely confused…


Let’s think about this. If Jesus were in my shoes would he actually save himself??? that would be the ultimate act of selfishness would it not?! So I come to the conclusion that Jesus would actually save my lovely wife rather than himself, and therefore that’s what I’d do. And if I made the wrong choice then, hey, I’d negotiate with him and explain the exact line of logic presented above, and I don't see how he could punish me at all if I was just doing what I thought he would do. Come on man, WWJD. I mean, it makes sense... right?


~fin~


This is a 15th century painting from one of my favorite Dutsch artists, Hieronymous Bosch. It's an awesome depiction of Christianity's notion of the 'perils of life's tempations'.
Titled The Garden of Earthly Delights

Did I also mention that when seen up close it scares the shit out of you (which makes sense, being one of organized religions' major goals).

Lots of speculation as to what Bosch's real message was (probably one that would have gotten him hanged), seeing as how he was thought by many to be on as many mind-altering substances as one of the greatest psychedelic rock bands of all time in my opinion, The United States of America having one of their most stand-out songs sharing the same name with the painting above.


Nico of Velvet Underground tried out for this band after the original singer left but was turned down. Apparently the bands were rivals and got into a couple fights on stage a couple times, during the short-lived career of U.S.A, which ended abruptly with a tour van drug bust. At least they went out with style, haha.

Goin' Straussin'

I don't even have to try. Good names just come to mind with no effort. Gruffward Von Bonavich. Now that's a man not to be taken lightly. You can have that one. Give it to your son. He'll be prosperous. I've got another thing to tell you. Strauss Tinglewood. Not a name. A club. You can ride little mopeds inside and there are glow-in-the-dark silly straws coming out of the walls and each different color is a different drink but you gotta 'go Straussin' enough to know what drink comes from what straw and to be sure it's the one you are in the mood for. But it doesn't matter cause they all taste delicious and you don't have to worry about that because you go to the Strauss so often you couldn't ever possibly forget what type of drink comes out of which straw, or what kinds of puppies are let free to run loose on each night of the week. And you know it's pointless to try to figure out the latter, because you already know the Strauss house rules, which means that you know every night the type of puppy is chosen secretly and that noone ever knows what type they are gonna see. And guess what else? Everyone wears slippers. And not just because they are amazingly comfortable and why not, but because the Strauss Tinglewood brand slippers have thick fluffy bottoms that don't hurt the puppies, so you can feel free to swing carelessly off the monkey bars and jungle gyms. And when you want to get a boy or girl's attention you just walk around on the polka dot Strauss carpet until you build up enough charge to give them a little friendly shock when you touch them slightly on the back of their ear lobe. Even if they aren't interested it's not awkward- they just giggle and give you a little nice smile and leave it at that because you are both at the Strauss and you are always having a good time no matter what. She might even shock you back later. But you don't sweat it cause it's not about meeting people really, it's about sharing the experience with them.
I'm headed up to the good ol' S Tinglewood right now. I'm gonna get a little studying done while I'm there so I'll bring my book and I know swirly blue and red straws mean Thai iced teas so I've got a smile on my face...Strauss Tinglewood is nothing too fancy. It's not supposed to be. It is what it is. Enjoy it.