Trying to catch up...

Its been whirlwind like in Pachucoville, the 3 D version, and have missed blogging, missed some important events, had some great moments and of course fun.

I miss blogging only in so far as writing. I like it. I know I am not the best, or even good by some standards, but it is a form of meditation for me. Carlos Castaneda wrote in one of his books about how we all need to recapitulate or remember our life day by day to see ourselves and understand how we interact with the world. This is to help us reach our highest potential. He recommended we do this in an enclosed space where our energy would not go out too far and outside energies could not swoop in on us and cause us harm in our open state. I don't know how this blogging affects my energy but so far, so good.

Last Friday I drove to work because we missed the late train. At 4:30 pm I got the first call letting me know about the Metrolink crash. It was followed by several text messages hoping I was OK. Thanks to my peeps for the love and care. I was not and would not have been on that train. We did lose a CSUN student and two staff members were banged up. Our department is raising money for her funeral costs.

Later that night we went salsa dancing. I felt a little weird about it because I really thought about what had happened, but at the same time we need to celebrate and enjoy the time we have.

The next day was a full schedule: Harry Gamboa Jr. was having an art opening at Patricia Correia; our last chance to catch Raul Campos at Moonshadows before the weather gets too cold to go to Malibu, and the Soul Rebel Radio fundraiser.

The best part of Saturday was getting to mix for 4 hours at home, something I haven't been able to do since the Featuring The Lights and Sounds show started. On another musical tip, another highlight, was that I took my djembe to the Soul Rebel Radio fundraiser and participated in the jam session which featured Will Dog of Ozomatli on bass. I played along for two hours and I didn't even feel it. It was so good.

Sunday we did breakfast with my parents at my new favorite spot Casa de Moles La Tia. They are in the old Tamales Lilliana's space on Chavez east of Ford. I kept my eye on them, but never saw a crowd in there so I figured it might not be that good. Then I read this post and Adrian of G727 wanted to go there after a meeting we had, and it was the BOMB! To be honest I went three times in one week!


-pictured is the chilaquiles plates and the enfrijoladas plate.

The Codes of Warriors and Thieves...

This long holiday break saw me renting four films that were all linked on a superficial level by the code of warriors and/or thieves.
"Letters of Iwo Jima"
"Ninja Scroll"
"The Transporter"
"The Wild Bunch"
Yes all very macho, violent, action filled, blood and guts. I watched alone so I chose what I wanted.
In all of them the characters were morally ambiguous. They all killed for various motivations, but they maintained a code of honor, integrity, and discipline which were shaped by a life of extreme violence and circumstances.
When speaking with a friend about these codes, and the often sexist and racist settings in which the stories took place, I asked if artistically should filmmakers sugar coat the past in fiction in order to present not so sexist, racist and stereotypical images. They responded immediately with" "Of course they should, it would make their audience much bigger and the main point of making movies is to entertain and make a lot of money." I was asking if it was artistically or morally correct to change history in a work of fiction for a greater good. Needless to say, said friend works for a major multinational media monster which often dishonors historical facts for a cheesy love story.
They presented the capitalist motto: Profits at any cost.
In the context of the the broader conversation the codes of warriors and thieves seem to be a better alternative than today's psychopathic capitalism.
The samurai, the soldiers, and the former members of military branches turned thieves and shady businessmen, were ruthless and brutal, but they had rules. Most of the rules were to protect themselves, but at the same time served as a stop to potentially greater violence, loss of life and money. There was a limit.
We need honor, integrity and discipline to come back into mode. These give us limits.
Right now we can look around and see that our leaders were never in any situation that helped shape their honor, integrity or discipline, so they act without restriction or any real remorse. Moral compasses are twisted so that, multi million dollar homes that were burned are visited for photo opportunities, but entire bays that are environmental catastrophes are treated as every day accidents. Overeating contests and $1,500 desserts get 5 minutes of media coverage, while drought conditions are ignored until it is time to institute water police, which contribute to the police state/union.
I gotta pull out my old Carlos Castaneda books and re-read the parts of being an impeccable warrior. I know I need to work on my honor, integrity and discipline, because I have not seen many examples of that in a long time... except in bloody morally ambiguous films.