Steven Stark: Daily News
The lyrics to Randy Newman's "A Piece of the Pie" - August 20, 2008
I believe that one of the greatest threats to national security is the continuing trend of wealth ending up in fewer and fewer hands. There is a certain amount of capital in the world at any given time (Hopefully it will continue to grow over time). Capital gets things done. It is the power to start a company for yourself or someone else. It is the power to cure disease, to alleviate (or cause) suffering. And the fewer people who control the flow, the riskier the state of the nation. After all, what does it mean to own capital? It just means you control where it is being put to use.
Uber-rich guys like Warren Buffet agree on this dilemna. That's why they lobby on capitol hill for the estate tax to remain in effect. Imagine generation after generation of old money, so far removed from the possible creativity and hard work (or villainy) that gathered the wealth initially. Their wealth grows through zero effort on their part. And yet we argue that we live in a meritocracy.
Now I think that capitalism is deeply flawed, but it is the best system we've got. I don't begrudge rich folk completely (unless the own a Hummer and use all my gas!), and I don't think that the estate tax should go crazy on small business owners and family farms. I also sincerely believe that this is still the land of opportunity (provided you have access to decent education and health care!). I just think we desperately need balance if we hope to remain one people.
Randy Newman is always good at identifying our collective wounds and pouring a little salt on them at times. Hey, it helps us to know where they are! "Piece of the Pie" is from his excellent new album "Harps and Angels." The Jackson Browne reference is odd, but Newman actually thinks he stuck to his guns on the causes he believed in instead of just cranking out the hits. He pokes a bit of fun at Mellencamp for his GM commercial, but also at himself ( "The rich are getting richer. I should know.")
"Like us all you want the very best of life
A car, a house, a neighborhood that's nice
With flowers and trees and lots of little kids around
Where public schools aren't breeding grounds
for vice
You say you're working harder than you ever have
You say you got two jobs and so's your wife
Living in the richest country in the world
Wouldn't you think you'd have a better life?
If you lived in Norway
You'd be fine right now
Get sick there
You make the doctor wait
If you lived in Belgium
You could mediate
[Flemish/French debate]
Hey knock it off!
And the French fries are great
Hey!
Jesus Christ it stinks here high and low
The rich are getting richer
I should know
While we're going up
You're going down
And no one gives a shit but Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson
Jackson
There's a famous saying someone famous said
As General Motors goes so go we all
Johnny Cougar's singing it's their country now
He'll be singing for Toyota by the fall
[Patriots]:
That's not ture
John's a patriot
He's not like you
He's a......
Jesus Christ it stinks here low and high
Some get rich
And others just get by
Bono's off in Africa - he's never around
The country turns its lonely eyes to who?
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
A piece of the pie
That's all we're asking for
A piece of the pie"
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Biting My Lip - August 19, 2008
Today I was at LD's house and he had purchased a new acoustic guitar. While he usually plays a very nice Telecaster, he is starting guitar class at school and acoustics are required.
At first I winced when I saw that he had purchased a used instrument made by Johnson. I have another student with a Johnson guitar and it's not of the highest quality, though of course you can learn on it.
LD's guitar looked like it was a little better though, so I was happy. But then I had to bite my lip HARD, when LD's mom walked into the room during our lesson and cheefully asked," Well, did Steven approve of your Johnson?"
I avoided all eye contact and survived the situation without revealing any expression whatsoever.
If LD had laughed though, it would have been all over.
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Funny stuff from Onesie - August 18, 2008
If you like this bit of cosmic hilarity, then check out more Onesie short films at
http://www.superdeluxe.com/sd/artist/onesie
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god - August 15, 2008
Everyone believes in a god, sort of. Even if you don’t believe that God is a person or a being. Just by believing that one decision in life can be better than another creates a conceptual ideal - the possibility of a higher level of existence. I resist too much emphasis on duality, but it's hard to argue with hot/cold, right/wrong, etc. Although I would argue that EVERY possibility has elements of both in them, and they can change with your point of view. But still, when confronted with decision and actions, most people do consider some choices to be superior to others because they are more in line with THAT WHICH THEY CONSIDER THEMSELVES SUBSERVIENT TO ........otherwise known as God.
Now this concept of "a god" can be so many different things to different people. A supernatural, omnipotent being, reason, scientific materialism, pleasure, happiness, love. Perhaps there is even what it actually is as opposed to what we HOPE it is.
Ultimately our concept of a god is a mirror to our view of ourselves, our true nature, and I believe that it is our creation. This does not disqualify God as existing apart from just inside us, it just means that our concept, our interface, our avatar is the tool we use for attempts to commune with God, and it is based on our current level of understanding. If there is a God who is a higher power that exists in something both in and beyond our 5 senses, then any possibility of interaction with us would have to be through interfaces that we can understand. I believe when discussing the existence of God, we are usually talking about these interfaces. For instance, if I have to be locked down, I will say that I believe that God is Love. But I use an anthropomorphized "person" of God in my brain to try to commune with. I believe that this is my creation (based on historical scriptures, experiences, etc.) but I also feel it could be a true possible method of interaction with God.
Though if there is a God, that gives us just as many questions to replace any answers we may receive.
What purpose does the belief in God serve? What about religion?
One purpose to me, is that religion at its best, serves as a means to intuit new insights beyond our current level of knowledge. Obviously this means that religion is a path fraught with peril. One can easily end up with a smaller view of the world instead of a larger view. But at the same time, one can also find greater motivation to empathy, energy, exploration and happiness. Religion is a tool to express our longings, our needs, our hopes. AND religion is different than other studies in that not only does it require us to ask the deepest questions about existence (like philosophy), it also requires us to PRACTICE a set of actions to match the philosophy.
I think that in the same breath, one can ask what purpose fiction serves. I mean we’re reading things that are made up, nonfactual. Yet they express truth to us. Kids dress up like Harry Potter, grown adults weep, people feel more connected, and none of it ever happened. Or did it?
Perhaps religion could also just be a crutch to help us deal with the amoral nature of life, but as stated in the wonderful Diane Keaton directed movie “Unstrung Heroes” - “A crutch is not bad if you need it.”
We live in a world devoid of explanations. Science explains nothing, it only provides ever more detailed descriptions. Just because we can explain and even control the phenomenon of pain, for instance, does not explain the experience or existence of pain. And explaining everything in terms of natural selection is not an explanation. Why is evolution happening??
Religion attempts to explain rather than expand our knowledge of nature, but too often finds itself trying to replace empirical reason in describing the universe. Once again, Ghandi's criteria for rational faith needs to be more utilized.
I appreciate everyone who reads this stuff and those who contributed to the discussion through comments.
I'll close with a quote by the Indian Hindu sage Sri Ramana Maharshi ( a proponent of non-dualism by the way!)
"God's grace is the beginning, the middle and the end. When you pray for God's grace, you are like someone standing neck-deep in water and yet crying for water. It is like saying that someone neck-deep in water feels thirsty, or that a fish in water feels thirsty, or that water feels thirsty."
God bless us all
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New Lovely Sparrows music video on Spin.com! - August 14, 2008
Check it out, it's for the song "Year of the Dog." The whole video looks like construction paper. It will also deepen your longing for fall.
http://spin.com/articles/catch-buzz-lovely-sparrows
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Wow. - August 14, 2008
I'm still working on one more entry for our excursion into God territory. At first I thought I would try to sum things up a bit, but after reading the breadth of expression in people's comments, I realized that it's already been summed up very well for now.
I'll still have one more entry, hopefully for Friday, before we put the subject away for a while! But I encourage everyone to read the comments for the dates of August 7 and 8 if you are interested (add more if you like!). And THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to put forth their view.
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Ghandi's four criteria for rational faith - August 13, 2008
From the book "Ghandi: A Short Introduction" by Bhikhu Parekh
"Although Gandhi nowhere stated them clearly, he often invoked the following four criteria to determine when faith was rational or justified.
First, it should relate to matters falling outside the purview of observation and reason. Whether or not elephants could fly or there was a cat in the next room was amenable to empirical verification and not a matter of faith.
Second, faith should not contradict observation and reason.
Third, since faith involved going beyond what could be observed and demonstrated, one must show that it was called for by, and had basis or warrant in, experience.
Finally, faith was a calculated gamble in situations where the available evidence was inconclusive, and was justified if it had beneficial consequences."
This is great. I think that faith and reason can be used together as partners. If Einstein didn't have faith in his ability to explore and in his intuition that things could be different than what was known, perhaps he would never have come up with general or special relativity.
At the same time, i think as long as you are dealing with the world of the five senses in a rational way, there may be room to intuit things that may seem irrational. Provided, as Ghandi suggests, that you can rationally prove the benefit of doing so.
Perhaps faith is the same stuff as emotion, imagination, what which drives the arts, sports, etc. It's like a river, and reason is the dam which controls its flow.
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Word. - August 11, 2008
Sometimes a word just don’t make sense. You’ve used it a million times, but all of a sudden you are unsure of its proper usage, or even if it’s actually a real word at all.
Here are two of mine:
“gotten” - This was used on the local news Sunday night. “We have gotten a break from those triple digit temperatures...” I guess “gotten” is the past participle form of “got”, but doesn’t it just sound weird?
The one that really gets me (or has “gotten” me) is “used” as in “I used to play baseball.” Really? I USED the infinitive “to play” just like I used a hammer? That is so odd. It makes sense, I suppose, thought “used” in that context has the connotation that I don’t play baseball anymore. But I “used” to. Odd.
I remember writing a book report in the 8th grade and trying to write that phrase. I had only spoken it before, never written it, and I thought that it was a different word altogether. I tried “yoosed” but that looked too weird, so I finally looked through some books (this was pre-internet of course) and made the discovery.
Now I write it all the time. I suppose I have “gotten used” to it.
too weird.
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More definitions of God - August 8, 2008
God is that which might exist beyond our ability to sense
God is that which we seek intuitively
God is the actual entity which we must anthropomorphize to try to commune with
God is that which drives natural selection
God is that which stands apart from the spinning samsara of natural selection
God is the whole
God is the hole
God is every thing
God is no thing
God is the subconscious mind
God is the great balancing act
God is a mirror
God is thought
God is the place where thinking stops. And at some point it has to
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Do you believe in God? - An irrelevant question - August 7, 2008
I have finally realized this last year that the simple answer to this question does not tell me much about a person's beliefs. The question that matters more to me is "What is your definition of God?"
Words just stand for our concepts. Our concepts are the framework which we use to relate our feelings and thoughts to the world. Think about it. If you believe in God and you pray, what is the concept of God that is in your mind? What if you consciously change that concept, but have the same prayerful spirit? Do you still feel that you are praying to God?
One person thinks of the name Jesus and sees Love and Salvation in the midst of a random, amoral world. Another person hears the name Jesus and thinks of tele-evangelists asking for money and people who deny facts about the natural world. Perhaps these two people have very similar values, but their associations and terminology are different.
Imagine a world before language was invented. Can you ask for things, be grateful, hope for good for another person, all the things that we think of as prayer, could you accomplish this without language? Just with awareness?
Anyway, sorry for a bit of a tangent. Back to definitions of God. I started writing down all the ones I could think of a year or two ago. I kind of collect them now, I suppose.
By the way, I do consider myself "a believer." I don't have a comprehensive definition, but I am open.
(An imaginary conversation:
"Are you a believer?"
"YES!"
"Excellent!"
"What are we talking about believing in?")
I like to think that God is Love, but that brings up many interesting points that I'll get to later.
I am an optimist about things mysterious and which lie without the immediate scope of our five senses. And I pray constantly. But anyway, back to definitions of God. None of these are meant to be all-inclusive of course. They are meant to be taken all together, thought I'll just list about 10 for now. Also, some of them are probably flat wrong. This is just an exploration.
Also, I don't mean to sound flippant about this. I try to be light, but I also take this searching very seriously, and I try to be respectful, but also without boundaries.
Also, I am trying to think in basic feelings and concepts instead of the specific words of a religion. I am pro-religion, but this is about trying for direct experience.
Please add your own.
God is this moment
God is the beginning and the end
God is my own mind
God is our collective mind
God is all that is worthy of praise
God is the phenomenon of love
God is the source
God is the perfect brain devoid of lapses in reason
God is everything that exists
God is the result of our observation
God is our observer
God is that which is hidden
God is that which shows
God is the subconscious mind in all of us
more tomorrow.......
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I like to be wrong - August 6, 2008
Now, I am not suggesting that it is FUN to be wrong. No, it can be a blow to the ego. And I don’t really like to be wrong about facts I throw out there, and I don’t like to remember things incorrectly.
It’s mostly in arguments when I like to be wrong.
I am not a masochist. I never try to be wrong on purpose, at least not consciously. And it’s not only because I want to end an argument, though that is probably partially true. And it’s not because I want to be a martyr (that would imply that I am ADMITTING that I am wrong, but maybe I don’t really think it.........sometimes that may be partially true as well....I hope not very often - or it could also mean that I want to feel sorry for myself, something else I hope doesn't happen too often). And it’s not because I think it’s GOOD to like being wrong. No, this is not something I have aspired to attain. Rather it's something that’s buried fairly deep that has taken me a little while to discover.
The reason that part of me likes to be wrong is that if I am the one at fault, then I am the one in control. If the other person is wrong, meaning I’ve looked at it as best I can from different points of view and it’s just not adding up, then there is probably not anything I can do to resolve the argument. Except to just back off and forget about it, agree to disagree. It’s so much better when one person throws up their hands and says, “You’re right! I wasn’t seeing it from that point of view! YOU ARE RIGHT!” And then it’s over, because I had the power to end it, because I was wrong and now I see the light. And now we've had our cathartic moment and we can do something else!
Sometimes arguments are a lot more about deeper things that the words we say or even the ideas we are exchanging with our mouths. It’s hard to accept that for me. But I’m learning. And yes, many times I am in the wrong. Cool! But statistically speaking, I cannot possibly always be wrong. And I have to deal with that. Sometimes there’s nothing I can do. Except to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. That’s different than admitting you’re wrong. That’s just acknowledging their point of view, that they are a fellow person going through their own journey. That’s just taking a step back (after expressing yourself) and giving them room. Letting it go. Even though they may just be wrong.
And no, I am not currently in an argument with anyone! Not to my knowledge anyway......I guess I could be wrong about that....
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LInes to Break Your Heart part 4 - August 5, 2008
I love the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens. I mean who doesn’t? It’s two and a half minutes of three chord, doo-woppy bliss. The song speaks of the happiness that a moment of peace and relief can bring. Human beings tend to be so darn upbeat and optimistic. We live in a world with suffering, pain, worry, and death, but also friendship, music, dancing, searching and so much more.
I love the line “Hush, my darling. Don’t fear, my darling. The lion sleeps tonight.” Doesn’t the melody capture perfectly the peaceful, yet almost pleading quality of the lyrics? We live in “the mighty jungle”, and the lion has not left! No, he’s just asleep. Well, there is nothing we can do about the lion’s being here, so let’s enjoy tonight. Now and forever.
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Fires in the Fall - August 4, 2008
Well, the dog days of summer are definitely here. The weather widget on my computer says that it was 105 today. I believe it.
Susan and I took turns biking this morning, but we really should have started sooner. I was finishing up at around 11:30AM and the sun was almost directly overhead sucking up all the energy below it.
I can't complain too much though, because it was a drier heat today, and hey, it is August after all. Yet, while trying to remain firmly in the present, I do think of the upcoming fall - especially that first afternoon when fall is in the air. It's hard to describe, some days it feels cooler, but you can tell it's still summer. Then all of a sudden, some sort of crispness invades the atmosphere, maybe a front or a compound emitted by trees, who knows? The smell of fall fills the air, and I feel euphoric.
Here is a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson about the fall. We don't really burn huge piles of leaves too much anymore, but the imagery is great.
Autumn Fires
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
Robert Louis Stevenson
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I am a mall walker now - July 31, 2008
Fatherhood and the dog days of summer have turned me into a mall walker. Throughout my life I have swam, jogged, biked and all that stuff, but now it’s power walking at the mall (with a stroller!). I take care of Severin during the mornings and it has been too hot to take him outside (unless we stroll prior to 7am [shudder]). So pretty much, going to the mall is our best option. For the first time since 9th grade, I am really grateful for the existence of a mall.
I have to admit that I kind of enjoy it. You walk into the mall and the temperature immediately drops 25 degrees or more. The smell is a bit much though. It’s kind of like a junior high boy who’s just discovered cologne. But then it’s off to the races!
I am fast.
Noone passes me. EVER. I will not let them. I blow them away. Fortunately, Severin’s stroller is a low-emission vehicle (actually no-emission unless his diaper’s been on too long) or else I would leave many older folks and mother/child combos in a trail of smoke.
I actually had one person start to catch up to me today. I heard shuffling behind me and I saw the offender out of the corner of my eye. An 8 or 9 year old kid in a giant, oversized, way-to-big T-shirt was truckin'. Did I think to ask him if he was OK? (I’m sure he was) NO! I just turned it up to 11.
Blew him away.
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Dealing with Depression - July 30, 2008
I do not like to consider myself a depressive person, but I cannot deny that my mind takes a turn towards melancholy periodically. In fact, sometimes it goes into a tense overdrive, and I feel like I’m being buried beneath rapid-fire thoughts, imaginary fights and arguments and all sorts of mental fiction (I’ll talk more about this idea later).
First of all, I should say that there is definitely a time to get help, starting with those close to you and proceeding on to a counselor or your doctor. That said, here are some of thing I do to pull myself out of a depression.
Exercise - When the brain is not thinking clearly and you have a lack of energy there is nothing like getting your circulation going. After 5 minutes of riding my bike, I feel better. After 15 minutes, I start to pinpoint intrusive thoughts and “turn them off.” After 20-30 minutes, I am seeing my “problems” for what they are, thinking clear, direct thoughts, and feeling light and easy in my movements.
Work on something - I have thought to myself before that the opposite of Depression is Commitment. If you put yourself into something (a creative project, a phone call, finishing all your errands, etc.) you will feel like part of the human race again.
Start a book - I recommend a work of fiction to get the mental gears focusing on a different world (actually it’s just a different point of view with which to reacquaint yourself with the same old eternal emotions). Looking forward to reading just feels great. (I need to start a new book!)
Clean your living space, work space, car, etc. - Cleaning raises your self-esteem. No question about it. You are getting organized and, most importantly, taking care of yourself.
Stay in the Present - This takes practice. I still work on it all the time through meditation and through periodic “check-ups” all day. Wipe your mind clean of thoughts. No future plans, no remembrances of the phantom past, no images, no flights of fancy. Just experience the moment you are in. It’s as if you just walked into this life, and your are discovering everything for the first time. Get out of your mental delusions for a while and experience LIFE all around you. Or WAKE UP! Or REALIZE THAT YOU ARE IN THE VERY CENTER OF LIFE! I won’t say get out of your head, because even the world around us is just in our head, but put your burdens down. Your mind will probably resist. It’s a muscle of habit like any other. When the unwelcome thoughts keep coming, gently turn them off again and again, without judgement. Eventually your yoke will become much lighter.
I hope to learn balance with this technique. We all have to think, remember and speculate all the time, but it’s when it gets obsessive/compulsive that it starts to get delusional, unpleasant and we can end up in a walking sleep state. Eckhart Tolle in his book “The Power of Now” makes the analogy that the thinking mind is like a hammer. It’s a great tool, but when you’re done with it, put it away.
Tend compassion (like you would a fire) - The Dalai Llama states that compassion is not thinking of your loved ones and hoping the best for them (though of course there is nothing wrong here, of course!). Rather, compassion that brings freedom and happiness is contemplating the reality that every other living being is like us - a creature that wants to avoid suffering. Think of every single human in every house on your street. Each one of them has had the same life, the same constant awareness of himself or herself that you and I have had. Everything has led them to this point, just like it has you and I. You begin to feel free. We are all part of the same giant motion. The same life. Feeling separate is a burden. In Eastern philosophy they describe this as NO SELF. Like many Westerners raised on individualism, this is a tough concept for me. Thank goodness for Echhart Tolle and Jack Kornfield’s description of the same idea as TRUE SELF.
All the things that bury you are all around you now. You are floating.
COUNSELING - Find a good counselor. Try a few different ones until you meet a good match. There is nothing like talking things out.
These are things I have discovered, and I’m still trying to learn to use them. I’m sure I will always be working on it. Two steps forward, one step back.
What are your techniques?
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LD strikes again - July 29, 2008
One time Little Dragon was in his guitar lesson, and he asked me if I could play “La Bamba”. I answered, “Well, certainly!” and I launched into a basic rendition of the famous Mexican folk song Richie Valens-style. LD immediately started rocking out in his chair, swaying his head back and forth and singing, “ La la la la la la bamba!”
I pulled down the song, and before I could continue the lesson he asked me another quick question:
“Now can you play ‘Shakin’ the Baby?’” I turned to face him. I must have misheard.
“What was that?”
“Shakin’ the Baby.” Hmmm, maybe not.
“Um, I don’t know if I know.....’Shaking the Baby?’”
“Oh come on! You know! It’s the same song as La Bamba.” LD began to sing:
“Well Shakin’ the Baby now,
Shakin’ the Baby,
Twist and Shout
Twist and Shout!”
I almost fell out of my chair laughing. I usually try to let a student know, when they do or say something funny, that I’m laughing WITH them, not completely AT them. But for about 10 seconds, I didn’t have any other thought except “Shakin’ the Baby!” HA!
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Quick thoughts on "The Dark Knight" SPOILER ALERT! - July 28, 2008
First off, I feel that the action sequences were confusing and hard to follow. Loud noises and quick pacing are no substitute for coherence. And the cameo by the Scarecrow at the beginning was odd. He never came back. And I did not catch how Gordon faked his death (though I LOVE Gary Oldman's portrayal). Maybe I missed something.
I don't quite buy the "Batman has to be the bad guy" bit at the end. I don't see how the fate of all those mobsters is tied to Harvey Dent's good name. I'm slightly troubled by Batman's "abuse" of power in using the sonar system "just this once." Seems kinda Bushie! If there was a little more moral dilemna before using it, it may have been better. Also, the statement at the end, that Batman is "not a hero" doesn't work so much for me, because by sacrificing himself and taking the blame, he acts out one of the most common themes of heroism throughout the history of story-telling (at least according to Joseph Campbell!)
That said, I loved Ledger's Joker and I loved Dent's descent into Two-Face, though I don't think his arrival was quite solid enough. It's kinda too bad for the film that No Country made such striking use of the coin flip already.
The best part of the movie was The Joker's speech to Dent in the hospital. I wish they would have focused on the concept of "what's fair?" a lot more. They hit on something profound, but perhaps with more focus on that theme it could've been even more of the central theme of the movie - the disturbing notion that anarchy treats everyone equally while any system is inherently full of injustice - the disturbing truth that it's much easier to destroy than to build, etc. I would have liked to see Batman grapple with this more and make a certain sense out of it.
And man, it was really loud and violent. I haven't been to many movies lately, but wow, I had my fingers in my ears half the time!
I love Batman Begins, and I might end up loving The Dark Knight. I definitely need to see it again.
Oh, and that scene in Hong Kong is FANTASTIC!
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