George Carlin famously said he would pray to the church of Joe Pesci instead of any organized religion based on the invisible man in the sky. That's a good choice George but I think I will try Aaron Sorkin as my deity.
The man writes what I think and feel. He captures the human condition and succinctly puts it into words and dialogue that truly inspires. Once again, smarter people than I with the answers already. Sure he is a lefty's wet dream and the ideals he espouses in his various shows and movies isn't realistic in our time, but does that matter? No I say. What are not dreams but something to strive for. A way forward to us all, if you believe in those tenets...if not, well, he's a communist and should be jailed or killed. Right?
"Words! Words! Words when spoken out loud for the sake of performance are music. They have rhythm and pitch and timbre and volume. These are the properties of music. And music has the ability to find us, and move us, and lift us up in ways that literal meaning can’t."
I like to think that people will do the good thing, the right thing more often than not. Of course, I'm stupidly naive so what the hell do I know. I do take people literally a little too often and I wish that the words people say or hear me say are taken at face value but of course we know that's not true. Which, of course, is too bad. Because I'm pretty sure if we stopped to actually listen, we might learn something. We might learn something profound even. I want to be moved, inspired and brought to tears because of the simple joy of hearing or seeing something beautiful. I yearn for it. I think a lot of people do, they want to be inspired. They want to feel moved to the point of action and reaction. I like that about myself. Call it corny if you will, like I care, but there is something refreshingly beautiful in being brought to tears because something moved you emotionally.
Here are two excellent examples of the ballsy writing that I so enjoy....
From The West Wing...
You're a son of a bitch, You know that? She bought her first new car and You hit her with a drunk driver. What? Was that supposed to be funny? "You can't conceive, nor can I, the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God," says Graham Greene. I don't know whose ass he was kissing there, 'cause I think You're just vindictive. What was Josh Lyman - a warning shot? That was my son. What did I ever do to Yours but praise His glory and praise His Name? There's a tropical storm that's gaining speed and power. They say we haven't had a storm this bad since You took out that tender ship of mine in the North Atlantic last year. Sixty-eight crew. You know what a tender ship does? Fixes the other ships. It doesn't even carry guns. It just goes around, fixes the other ships and delivers the mail. That's all it can do. Gratias tibi ago, Domine. Yes, I lied. It was a sin. I've committed many sins. Have I displeased You, You feckless thug? 3.8 million new jobs, that wasn't good?
Bailed out Mexico. Increased foreign trade. Thirty million new acres of land for conservation. Put Mendoza on the bench. We're not fighting a war. I've raised three children. That's not enough to buy me out of the doghouse? Haec credam a Deo pio, a Deo iusto, a Deo scito? Cruciatus in crucem. Trus in terra servus, nuntius fui, officium perfeci. Cruciatus in crucem. Eas in crucem.
You get Hoynes.
From The Newsroom...
“It’s not the greatest country in the world professor, that’s my answer.
Sharon, the NEA is a loser, yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paycheck but he gets to hit you with it any time he wants. It doesn’t cost money, it costs votes, it costs air time, it costs column inches. You know why people don’t like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fucking smart, how come they lose so god damn always?
And with a straight face you’re going to tell students that America is so star spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world that have freedom? Canada has freedom. Japan has freedom. The UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, BELGIUM has freedom.
So, 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.
And you, sorority girl, just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day there’s somethings you should know. One of them is there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, Number 4 in labor force and Number 4 in exports, we lead the world in only three categories: Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending where spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies.
Now none of this is the fault of a 20 year old college student, but you none the less are without a doubt a member of the worst period generation period ever period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Yosemite?
It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chests. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men, we aspired to intelligence, we didn’t belittle it, it didn’t make us feel inferior.
We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election and we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed, by great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. Enough?”
I could lift all kinds of quotes from his shows and movies but I suspect you get the idea by now. And now, perhaps, you are getting a little more clarity with regards to me as well. Whether that is a good thing or not is a totally different matter and I'm ok with that. Ambiguity can be my middle name if you wish. My brain works funny, to quote Sorkin. I think that might be frustrating for some people, kind of funny for others and something entirely different again to others. Perhaps that's why I seem to be a love/hate guy. You either love me or you hate my guts....you can imagine how I feel about the latter. If not, read my previous posts.
I go back to Toronto next week for a follow up on my surgery. I still can't see out of my left eye, which sucks royally and makes me a dnager to people driving at night or beside me...haha, sorry silver Honda Civic. My daughter is coming with me and we will be doing some father/daughter things while getting spoiled by the grand parents...should be fun.
Well, that is it for now. Catch you on the flipside
Ciao
D
“It’s not the greatest country in the world professor, that’s my answer.
Sharon, the NEA is a loser, yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paycheck but he gets to hit you with it any time he wants. It doesn’t cost money, it costs votes, it costs air time, it costs column inches. You know why people don’t like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fucking smart, how come they lose so god damn always?
And with a straight face you’re going to tell students that America is so star spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world that have freedom? Canada has freedom. Japan has freedom. The UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, BELGIUM has freedom.
So, 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.
And you, sorority girl, just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day there’s somethings you should know. One of them is there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, Number 4 in labor force and Number 4 in exports, we lead the world in only three categories: Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending where spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies.
Now none of this is the fault of a 20 year old college student, but you none the less are without a doubt a member of the worst period generation period ever period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Yosemite?
It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chests. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men, we aspired to intelligence, we didn’t belittle it, it didn’t make us feel inferior.
We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election and we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed, by great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. Enough?”
I could lift all kinds of quotes from his shows and movies but I suspect you get the idea by now. And now, perhaps, you are getting a little more clarity with regards to me as well. Whether that is a good thing or not is a totally different matter and I'm ok with that. Ambiguity can be my middle name if you wish. My brain works funny, to quote Sorkin. I think that might be frustrating for some people, kind of funny for others and something entirely different again to others. Perhaps that's why I seem to be a love/hate guy. You either love me or you hate my guts....you can imagine how I feel about the latter. If not, read my previous posts.
I go back to Toronto next week for a follow up on my surgery. I still can't see out of my left eye, which sucks royally and makes me a dnager to people driving at night or beside me...haha, sorry silver Honda Civic. My daughter is coming with me and we will be doing some father/daughter things while getting spoiled by the grand parents...should be fun.
Well, that is it for now. Catch you on the flipside
Ciao
D
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