On Friday, October 27th a momentus event occured. The Four Horsemen, who had all partied together seperately in various combinations in days past, rode out onto the streets of Boulder as one. It was a legendary night by all accounts. Lots of alcohol, jogging, acting, flirting, posing, dancing, scraped knees, tackling each other, breaking into houses, passing out, running needlessly, glowing, and all around awesomeness. We owned this town that night my friends. Already a night of legend with:
The Jesus, a monk, an american apparel model/jogger, and Dr. Freezeout.
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I finished the first two seasons. Make sure not to tell me d*ck about season 3.
Thoughts about adventure game narrative influence and shadow work in LOST coming soon…
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We’re seriously just hitting the iceberg in terms of educational uses. (though who doesn’t remember how hard life was on the Oregon Trail?)
Some interesting insights from an older generation:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danielle-crittenden/why-your-kids-should-play_b_32365.html
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Been thinking a lot about ‘heroism’ lately, and what attracts us to heroes and the idea of the hero in general. My thought is that in most films, and stories for that matter, what really defines a character’s heroism is their extraordinary capacity to endure suffering.
Seeing the commercials for the X3 DVD got me thinking that super-heroes are really a particularly amazing (and obviously exagerrated) example of this, but really I think any major hero (especially 80s action star heroes) exemplifies this idea.
The beauty of the hero with ’super powers’, is that those powers actually allow the character to experience levels of suffering far beyond that of a mortal person. In many cases, while these powers don’t completely nullify physical suffering, they almost always remove it from the equation to the degree that often times the super hero ends up being challenged mentally in terms of their will to endure that suffering, not their actual physical capacity.
Superman, Spiderman, X3, Blade, Daredevil, all those characters endure incredible amounts of suffering, yet manage to prevail, usually by sheer force of will. Why is that attractive, and why is it entertaining? I suppose seeing another human go through so much pain makes it easier for us to endure ours. If Superman can take that much of a beating, and still stand up, maybe I can too. Maybe I just need more resolve to be able to deal with all the shit in life, etc etc.
Jesus, William Wallace, John Mclaine, Rocky, Samuel in Long Kiss Goodnight, Arnold in T2, Odysseus, Frodo, Rick Blaine (casablanca), Mr. Smith (that went to Washinton), Leeloo in the 5th Element, Maximus, Darth Vader, the Dude (even if its the emotional suffering of losing one’s rug), Indiana Jones, Wolverine, V, etc etc.
There’s probably enough meat here for a full proper write up someday, but that’s it for now.
*note, a coworker brought up the point that The Joker suffers too, but he’s certainly not heroic. The suffering I’m talking about generally is for the benefit of others; it’s a bodhisattva thing.
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Father Thomas Keating and Diane Musho Hamilton having an amazing dialogue on religion, the state of world affairs, and personal shadow at day 4 of the Integral Contemplative Christianity Seminar I went to 2 weeks ago. Amazing human beings and teachers.
In other news, saw Brett Dennen on the Hotel Cafe/RED tour last week at Boulder’s very own Fox theater. No surprise to me that brett headlined the show and managed to bring the house down single-handedly.
And I’m building my own movie theater in our basement, my projector comes tomorrow. I’m going to watch a LOT of movies this winter. Time to brush up on cinematic history…..
Other exciting news, I now have full medical, dental, and life insurance. So bring it on snipers.
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First snow of the year here in downtown boulder…
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Watch it for free online, or order the hi-res dvd for $20 on the site. 25% of dvd profits are being donated to us here at Integral Institute.
Good stuff!
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