Ranting Religulous Review

May 23, 2011June 12, 2011 / nicholasdaletaylor / Leave a comment

Bill Maher and an actor playing Jesus

My favorite spoken portamento and a conversation launching film all in one, Religulous left me in stitches with great exchange to boot. This is another hybrid review/inspired rant.

Just last night I watched this with a buddy finding myself screeching with irony induced laughter as only two nights ago I was chuckling to myself writing a quick blurb while waiting on the train at Morse (see Still Here). Tie-ins, coincidences and or miracles such as asking for it to rain only to feel the drops immediately afterward exist from our perspective or in other words, it’s all in how you frame it. There are too many uncanny instances for me to label as simply coincidence but at the same time miracle implies a connotation that just isn’t quite right either. Groping for a word to describe these line-ups, synchronicity works best for me.

Some take offense to Bill Maher’s unapologetic message to the overall institution of organized religion. I do not fall in that lot. While his approach might be abrasive to some it is refreshing to me. Many times I’ve shied away from speaking out against what my family may think or say due to their church heritage and often when voicing reason I was only met with defensive hostility; my guess is a nice suit, preceding reputation and a film crew can help alleviate the confrontation. Along his journey he interviews an Arkansas senator, a “cured,” gay man and casually discusses among Jesus-actor and strangers long-spanning historical similarities of religious deities.

“Foot in mouth,” doesn’t capture the expression on this leader’s face when faced with reason itself. Bill says, “We are now among industrialized modern nations the most religious nation. A recent study found that among 32 countries more people in this country doubted evolution than any other country on that list except I think it was Turkey.” This is astounding. But as Senator Mark Pryor says, “You don’t have to pass an I.Q. test to be in the Senate though.”

Speaking of I.Q. you need not be a genius to see the truth cross between Maher and Pastor John Westcott of Exchange Ministries. I am highly familiar and concerned with the idea to pray-gay-away as it can only do long-term harm to a man’s mind. See the above link to witness how easy it is to be turned around (at least if you are a pastor in an argument).

Holy Land Experience proves a “welcome to our world,” attraction and what a world it is. “We’ve got Krishna… Mithra… Horace…” and Bill goes on relating these identities to this Jesus-actor who later eloquently lays out an analogy of the holy trinity.

Words are great but figures fascinate. These comparative percentages concerning these U.S. minorities proved illuminating:

Jewish-1.4%
Black-12.2%
Gay-3%
NRA-1.3%
Non-Religious 16%

At least gays are higher than guns.

Religion can be a bad thing. How many soldiers have went to war for god and country fighting a later unveiled, unjust cause? Belief systems can be good but not by defenestrating logic and certainly not at the cost of life. My god is not better than your god and vice versa. In fact, they are probably the same.

Evolution is an understood, proven, scientific reality that regardless of approval remains true. Homosexuality is not a disease, hence, needs no cure. Numerous similarities exist between many religious deities including Horace, Mithra, Jesus and more. Instead of dismissing such facts, accepting these truths would create a through-line for many cultures/subcultures and ultimately dismantle the war machine fueled by difference in opinion and absurd argument. As I have mentioned and as is a focus of my upcoming one man show I was raised Southern Baptist but through my continuing self-education grew beyond my limited viewpoint. A commendable argument offered from the mouth of Bill Maher lays this out in the fashion of his custom blunt wit.

Click here to buy Religulous.

Balancing full throttle final thoughts delivered by Bill Maher from Megiddo, Israel, my mind falls on my family and how harshly they would receive such a message. For a person who has lived their entire life devoted to instilled idealistic principles, facing these fabrications without an alternative will prove jarring to say the least. I have faced my own religion around 30, Bill Maher has done it later in life and through higher thoughts even you, my dear family, can come to realize religion for what it really is. Religion is an institution that offers a set of beautifully written stories blended with history as a guiding text on which to establish a society, moderate their behaviors and justify opposition towards enemy populations of separate cultures and beliefs. Regardless of any facts set forth in the ancient texts the degree of translations and interpretations applied leave only shades behind which stand political figures that either falsely pronounce “for God and country” (to rally support and vote count) or simply remain in the dark.

To quote George W. Bush, “We are in a conflict between good and evil.” Guess what makes up good and evil; through our belief-inspired actions, we do.

For those who contemplate now as “end times” of an unbeknownst Armageddon please know that by subscribing to this potential prophecy you are helping to create it (that’s a bad thing); for all our sakes, hurry and wake up.

White Noise, A Cautionary Musical

May 14, 2011June 12, 2011 / nicholasdaletaylor / 3 Comments

“We hate them, they hate us, they hate us, we hate them and…” will prove a poignant ellipsis for any open ears that find their last-minute way into Chicago’s new rock musical of illuminating controversy, White Noise, A Cautionary Musical.

Selling out stirs the young, attractive, highly marketable white supremacists into the melting pot of talent under the wing of strictly business Max (Douglas Sills) who around the same time transforms an ivy league educated team of two into a more money-making, rap gangster duo. The former, after Max’s right hand man Jake adjusts the trio’s fascist lyrics into main stream language, becomes pop star band White Noise and the later becomes the Blood Brothers.
Through these parallel roads of fame and monetary success we see the “Brothers,” Dion (Wallace Smith) and Tylers’ (Rodney Hicks) frustration for continuing the trend at hand to get the crowds while fuhrer following sisters Eden (Emily Padgett) and Eva (Mackenzie Mauzy) adjust in their own ways while one remains paired with an apathetic animosity embodied by her lover Duke (Patrick Murney). As Jake attempts reason with Eden we hear the disconcerting thoughts of one torn, “You only see the hate, but I see the hurt,” and even more head shaking is the unforgiving full throttle drive of Eva who will break for no one while hurling herself towards a name of lights which will no doubt explode as a short-lived sadistic star. “They’re going to buy me.”

Voices of impact are heard through devilishly appropriate song titles such as ‘W.T.F.’ (white trash fairy tale [a personal favorite]) “one day you’re on the bottom, the next day you’re on top.” Unsettling gestures fill the spun title ‘Mondays Suck’ and an ensemble fueled presence sets off the talent in ‘Showtime’ hit while the battle with a bang ensues during the ‘Master Race’; minds are bombarded by the reality set forth in the finale ‘I am America.’

This show is presented by Whoopi Goldberg, always a name I love to follow, and I could not commend her more for her part in this effort. It is a story that needs to be heard.

To be brief, the only thing I regret about this show was not having seen it sooner.

Programs contain support for awareness from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Taken directly from my personal program, a quote at length from Director of SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance Maureen Costello follows:

Messages of hate aren’t confined to the radical fringes of our society. They can be encoded in popular music. They can be threaded into political rhetoric. They can be heard on talk radio–or in the schoolyard. We cannot outlaw hate speech–It’s protected by the First Amendment. But we can be aware of it… And, we can speak out against it. This groundbreaking production raises important issues about the power of hate speech in our culture and should inspire people of conscience to call out others who engage in it. We applaud the producers and the entire White Noise company for their great work.

White Noise ran a limited run in Chicago, IL

Click here to visit the White Noise website.

The only way any industry will ever change its tune is if we as a population stop buying what they, the industry in question, are selling. It is time to buy some truth.

White Noise is the sound and sight that merits being royally received.

Tickets may be purchased directly through the Royal George Theatre which is located at 1641 N Halstead St. just north of North Avenue. Seats are limited and the show is scheduled to close tomorrow! Remaining show times include tonight (5/14/2011) at 8:00p.m. and tomorrow (5/1502011) at 2:00p.m. and 5:00p.m.

Visit www.whitenoisemusical.com for more information.

The Fighter’s Mind, Inside the Mental Game

May 13, 2011August 21, 2011 / nicholasdaletaylor / 2 Comments

If any reader has ever thought “fighting” to be some barbaric competitive outlet that has no bearing outside of brawn a read of The Fighter’s Mind, Inside the Mental Game will offer enlightening insight.

Author Sam Sheridan shares the universality in the simple line, “that everyone is fighting something,” and in this book addresses what some consider to be a cliche tag, ‘”Fighting is fifty percent mental”‘ (preface). Throughout Sam’s travels he interviews great fighters from various backgrounds and styles setting out to answer many questions from many minds. Among those there is one mind familiar to many in an unrecognized way.

Josh Waitzkin proves to be a mountain of mental development within the ring. Searching for Bobby Fischer is a film adapted from “a book that Josh’s ‘Pop’ had written about Josh’s early chess career” (pg. 184). As an early chess master both his mind and his reputation were no strangers to fame. As an author himself, Josh has written both Attacking Chess and The Art of Learning (both of which are available directly from the author’s website, here) the later of which received praise from numerous inspirational writers including Deepak Chopra. It is within this chapter that Sheridan truly taps the undeniable truth of the psychological traps and pitfalls to which the contenders are subject.

Queries stretch along lines of heroes, unmatched rivals and personal inspirations. What it takes to be one of those heroes is answered in part by esteemed trainers such as Freddie Roach and Greg Jackson.

How these men reach heightened planes of performance is unveiled through their own given circumstance. These men accomplish amazing physical feats such as is with the case of “Captain America” Randy Couture whose body has become more of a championed machine. During strenuous activity our bodies produce higher levels of lactic acid resulting in what we experience as fatigue. After years of vigorous conditioning Randy’s body does not.

The Fighter's Mind, Inside the Mental Game

Click image to buy The Fighter's Mind

Where the fight takes place stretches over continents and transcends both the mind and body. Later in the book, we see a list from Applied Sport Psychology containing qualities of “peak performance” (pg. 255):

Loss of fear–no fear of failure
No thinking of performance
Total immersion in activity
Narrow focus of attention
Effortless performance–not forcing it
Feeling of being in complete control
Time/Space disorientation (usually showed down)
Universe perceived to be integrated and unified
Unique, temporary, involuntary experience

Sam relates these bullets to the Zen of martial arts.

The who contained within the book includes well-known names of accomplished fighters including Rory Markham, Mark DellaGrotte, Frank Shamrock, Andre Ward, Dan Gable and Renzo Gracie.

However many questions are answered inside of this text the why is the sought after reason which remains most elusive. During an interview with Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, Sam is asked why he crossed the boundary and traveled to Thailand to fight and replies with a less than articulate response (which he acknowledges nearing the close of the book) and follows with a comment about fighting being an “art,” to which Jon lays his exquisite wit.

There is much to be said about the passion driving performance across the board, going beyond fighting, beyond running, beyond theater. Dually personal and widely relative this read, while not providing the backing to qualify fighting as an art, does allow answers for the who, what, when, where and how of the mind’s journey while faced with the life and death bouts that extend far beyond the category of sport.

In summation, to quote a friend, the message anyone can find resonate here is that, “To be really really good at anything takes dedication and a lot of hard work.”

Sam Sheridan is also the author of A Fighter’s Heart.