A Very Sincere Shout Out to ExxonMobil

Today on FaceBook I had a close encounter with ExxonMobil’s Public Relations Machine via a video advertisement. The following is my comment/feedback/response to said ad: 

Okay, I just ‘inquired’ why I’m seeing this ad and got a ‘good’ explanation from Facebook

[thank you, Facebook]–Exxon wants to reach out to people like ‘me’. Well, Exxon you and

your fellow Oil companies ‘reached’ me long ago via the Niger Delta, Ecuador and

Guatemala, and the house down the street where the owners were ‘stuck’ with a gas drill in

their front yard for years, via the oil storage tanks and refinery in the little township two

miles up north where cancer runs rampant, with the oil spill in Alaska, the oil spill in the

Gulf, et al and that’s why I say NO! to Big Oil. #NoDAPL, No to the entire fossil fuel industry,

NO to Exxon’s influence in Politics, NO to an industry with the biggest profits in the world-

-an Industry which destroys the Earth we all live on, attacks people who criticize it, and lies

about Climate Change and truly doesn’t give a damn about people like me. Yeah, I get it,

you’re on a Public Relations Roll. Good luck with that. I guess the upside is that you’re

giving work to some people in advertising, Facebook and everywhere you’re placing these

ads. So you reached out to someone in my demographics. Well, now I’ve reached back.

#WaterIsLife But hey, Exxon, ‘you’ already knew that, didn’t you? Now learn how to

#HonortheEarthbefore it’s too late. I don’t think Mars is ready for Homo sapiens just yet.

Have a nice day. 🙂 .

Ad reference is to  ExxonMobil’s #Energy Lives Here ~ “ExxonMobil is a leader in carbon capture and storage”  This sponsored video ad appeared on my fb timeline. Perhaps you’ve seen it there or elsewhere.

~~~~

[note: speaking of ads–any ads appearing here do so at the behest of wordpress and have no connection to moi. thanks for visitng.]

 

Make Your Money Sing Solidarity With Standing Rock

H10 no black snake

https://nodaplsolidarity.org/

Yes! magazine’s list of Banks invested in ETP/DAPL 

How to Contact the People Sending Militarized Police to Standing Rock

Make this holy-day season truly meaningful. Stand with Standing Rock. Honor Our Mother Earth. Sing Water Is Life Loud and Clear.

 

(side note: any ads appear via wordpress only and reflect no connection with moi. thank you for visiting.)

International Days of Prayer and Action with Standing Rock NoDAPL Oct.8, 9, 10 & 11.

 

Lyla June Johnston

 

1- Close accounts with:

Citibank

Wells Fargo

Bank of America

Money talks.

2- Lock-down major headquarters of these Banks

3- Gas strike / boycott especially Phillips 66

4- Organize a public prayer peaceful event/ demonstration of support.

What have we all got to lose? 

Everything.

 

Published on Sep 26, 2016

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER AND ACTION WITH STANDING ROCK
Projects
About
We are working on our website now…

Until then, please take 1 minute to record your prayer/action so we can put you “on the map”

Click here to record your event.

Let’s reach our goal to mobilize 5000 cities (or towns) in solidarity with Standing Rock! 🙂
http://www.5k4sr.net/

In The River: A Protest Song by Raye Zaragoza ~#NoDAPL ~ Water Is Life

Published on Sep 15, 2016

Written and Performed by Raye Zaragoza
Recorded by Justin Hergett at The Forest Studios
Filmed by Roman Zaragoza
Images taken from online news publication & Los Angeles protest (taken by ThomasMichaelPhotography.com)

Donate at http://www.sacredstonecamp.org

http://www.rayezmusic.com

“We Are Part of the Natural World. ~ We are Power.” #NoDAPL

 

Film by Heather Rae, Cody Lucich and Ben Dupris
Posted by Sundance Film Festival
http://www.sundance.org/blogs/native-…

 

 

Hello Online World

An interesting thing happens when you unplug from the world-wide web–time expands. Yes it does indeed. Time expands in the sense of all the things you can explore OFFline. Consider what happens when you forget your cellphone and you don’t feel the need to answer every ringtone like Pavlov’s puppies. Oh the freedom from the ring, from the keyboard connected to social media, and everything in the info universe. It can be very liberating–and you realize just how much energy, effort and time you’ve been putting into communication technology. Having been almost constantly online since BEFORE Facebook and twitter were even imagined I discovered a real big break from it all was in order. It’s been the kind of break where I’m on the verge of needing to upgrade my cellphone so that it will ‘work’. Aside from personal connections I have not missed the world-wide web much. I don’t enjoy reading books online–but I adore reading. Writing online has its pros and cons. I’ve discovered that the best way to deal with writer’s block is to actually write with a pen/pencil on paper. Yeah, it works. According the research I suspect it’s because more of your brain is stimulated by using your fine motor skills when using a pen than with using a keyboard. Oh and there’s never a problem with power outages or viruses or hitting the wrong key and sending everything into nowhere-land. Yes, being offline has been very good for my writing. It’s also been good for reading, exploring music, and cooking. Virtual cooking leads to virtual food and that’s inedible no matter what it does to your salivary glands.

When you’re exploring books offline in a library setting interesting things tend to happen–to me anyway. For example, an oversize book cover featuring Virginia Woolf’s profile draws your attention to Stefan Bollman’s Women Who Write, a book of profiles of women writers. Reading Francine Prose’s introduction raises the question of what other women have won the Nobel Prize in Literature since the book’s publication. The answer to this query leads to 2015 Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich’s Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster. I currently do not know where else you can read anything like this in English. Which leads in turn to the translator, Keith Gessen who is the co-editor of City By City, Dispatches from the American Metropolis. The essays therein present diverse perspectives on the American urban landscape–and they’re anything but boring.

I heartily recommend all these books for your reading table or tablet. Warning: Voices from Chernobyl may break your heart with its love stories. What happens to people who know nothing about the downside of nuclear energy when things go terribly wrong? This is an intensely personal record of what happens. Considering the world in which we live we owe to these people to at least make ourselves aware and informed. Because Blue Skies do not mean all is hunky dory in the radioactive universe. Note: this is also a National Book Critics Circle Award winner for General Nonfiction.

Dots:
~Virginia Woolf’s profile
~Women Who Write by Stefan Bollman, Francine Prose
~Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich
~Translator Keith Gessen
~City By City, Dispatches from the American Metropolis edited by Keith Gessen and Stephen Squibb

Please do feel free to share wherever these dots lead you.

Thanks for engaging here. Your time, energy and virtual presence is very much appreciated–more than ever before.

About Svetlana Alexievich:

http://alexievich.info/indexEN.html

Women Who Read Are Dangerous~~(select translation):

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/rezensionen/sachbuch/ein-buch-ersetzt-den-mann-im-haus-kuenstlerblicke-auf-lesende-frauen-1214751.html

All Packed and Ready to Go Forth and Conquer Yourself? Yeah, It’s Journey Time.

The Journey is such a deceptive phrase because it implies a beginning, middle and end when there really is none.  One thing leads to another and then to another so there’s always an ongoing journey — an infinite plot-line, if you will, that never reaches any conclusion. If it did then entropy would set in, and that would be the end of, well, everything as we know it. On the other hand, that might not be such a bad thing for cleaning slates and starting over from scratch.

*

Roads and travelers come in all shapes and sizes–literally and figuratively.

Keiko Matsui ~ The Road  album title track.

*

Into the Wild ~  LP – Live, of course. Whistle with her, if you can. I dare you. 🙂 So says moi, who can NOT whistle at all.

 

Rust and Bone soundtrack  I Follow Rivers ~ Lykke Li ~  Who’s up for a hard-core, edgy and no punches pulled journey into love?

*

Blank Maps ~ Cold Specks.  If someone has found the kiosk with the life maps, please announce it on the intercom for everyone’s benefit.  Thank you.

 

*

Into the Wild –Eddie Vedder ~ There are a number of videos with this music connected to the film by the same name.  I decided to stick with the focus on Vedder’s voice and lyrics.

*

Why Across the Universe?

Because of all the concrete and abstract journeys it contains: a young man’s journey from home to find his biological father; journeys of the heart and mind; journeys into and out of the war machine; journeys of friendship; creative journeys and spiritual journeys. The film is pretty much jam packed with a lot more than great Beatles’ music, though that alone is reason enough to give it some of your precious time–if you’re a Beatles fan, of course.

Across the Universe ~ I Want You 

*

A great survival story is a great survival story—that’s my response to those folks who have issues with the source material for this film.  Frankly, I just don’t give a damn.  Considering the way serious political history is constantly abused, misused, spun, and misrepresented by some film industries, I can’t get worked up about whether or not everything in this film is factual or not.

The Way Back ~  Tibet by Burkhard Dallwitz

*

I’ve served  The Thin Red Line on other occasions–sigh. Listen closely and let Private Witt speak for himself.

The Thin Red Line ~ The Swing Scene

*

~~~

Where have Bear and the others gone? Let’s find out.

Bear ~ http://bearspawprint.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/journey-music-themes/

Maddie ~ http://1earthunite.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/%e2%99%aathe-journey-where-do-your-tracks-lead-music-themes/

So far we’re all on different tracks. Oh yeah. No visas required. Yet.

Johnny ~ http://johnnyojanpera.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/music-theme-journey/

Lisa, Lisa ~ http://undergroundenergy.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/music-theme-the-journey/

the incredible red dot lady herself ~ willowdot21 ~ http://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/the-journey-musical-theme/

~~~ Like Johnny said, there are 7 billion life maps out there and none of them are the same. In other words, all our journeys are unique with this musical theme.

~

ps. This is subject to massive revision without notice. 🙂  Don’t forget your meal tickets.

Feel free to offer some detours of your own.

History ~~ Ouch–It Hurts! ~~ What’s Columbus Got To Do With Anything In 2014?

 

 

 

ACT I:

~In 1482, Columbus sailed the ocean blue~

He was Bad News for the Taino People ~

But some people don’t want to think about that reality.

~Why not?

Because then they’d  have to learn a new history.

~Ooops–but isn’t history supposed to be true and honest?

Depends on who is using which facts to support which version of what happened.

~Are you saying people manipulate facts to suit their own agendas?

Me? Why would I ever say something like that? It might be politically incorrect, and we can’t have that, can we?

~Hmm, but what’s Politically Correct for one group isn’t necessarily PC for another group. And people do have a tendency to abuse PC everywhere in order to create conflict and sometime even abuse other people who had no intentions of abusing anyone. There’s been some very rough irony involved in demands for PC over the years.

No way! Who would do something like that?

~Who doesn’t? Come on, look at the conservative media, the scared shitless media, the controlled media, the alternative media, the foreign media, the underground media, the social media–everyone spins everything to suit their vision of reality, right?

Do you think that’s what pissed off those high school kids in Colorado so much that they pretested in the streets about changes in what history would be taught?

~What do you think?

I’m not sure yet. But–I do recall what happened in Arizona with the Mexican-American Studies program being shut down because it presented a different viewpoint of history than what the TPTB wanted taught in schools.

~Hey, are you saying there’s a conspiracy to teach lies in American schools?

Look, I don’t go in for conspiracy theories.  But I don’t think this is a coincidence either.  Maybe it’s just like minds acting out in similar ways.  Or not.

~ Like minded people, right. Ah ha.

ACT II:

Lie. Lie. Lie.

Deny lying and lie some more.

Because if the truth is known the people might rebel.

There’s a very good chance they’ll refuse to be cannon fodder.

They might even learn other languages in order to talk to the rest of the world about issues that affect everyone.

Or not.

ACT III:

*

*

Howard Zinn on Honesty In History

*

Humor ~~ Warning! Contains Sarcasm, Irony and Questioning of Authority

If you’re still in the dark about the history curriculum issue in Colorado:

http://www.vice.com/read/colorado-students-are-fighting-a-patriotic-white-washing-of-us-history-929

As for the Mexican-American Studies Program in Arizona, check this out from Buzzfeed’s David Noriega:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/davidnoriega/arizona-schools-chief-ousted#35ypfte

 

Epilogue:

Am I spinning the facts? Me? No way.  Why would I do something like that?

P.S.

A few of the many Italian things I really like:

Friendly Italian people

Pizza

Florence, Italy

Pasta

Sandro Botticelli, artist ~ http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/botticelli/

~~No, I’m not going to talk about the Pope or the Vatican. One should never discuss religion. It’s very Un-PC. Or it used to be. I’m not sure anymore.

 

 

 

Three Mis-used and Over-used Words That Ought to be Dis-used ASAP. So Rants I.

Yes, it has finally gotten to the point where I can no longer refrain from have a jolly good rant about three words that have been abused so thoroughly by the writers of television programs, movies and by the social media addict generation.  I can’t wait to no longer hear: Amazing, Awesome and Complicated—as in the utterly useless, evasive phrase, “It’s complicated.” never ever uttered again.

You’ve heard them all. I know you have because they’re impossible to avoid these days no matter if you’re in a coffee-shop, the grocery store or the hardware store.

Amazing implies a fair degree of wonder and surprise.  How many ways can people or things be called amazing? Really? What ever happened to you look very lovely or very handsome? That’s a beautiful dress or a very flattering suit–but I’m not astonished at your appearance. Nope, I’m not, sorry.

Awesome, hmmm, I guess this word conveys open-mouth, drop dead AWE and Shock of that inspiring AWE that has pulled the rug out from under our flat feet. My meddlesome mind associates Awe–some or a little of it–with truly above ordinary events and things. Dresses, food, shoes, hairdos, cars are far too mundane things to be imbued with real awe. Who wants to talk Nuclear Bombs? Hmm? Now those are fully awe inspiring in many ways—from their power of destruction to views of the aftermath of their deployment.

It’s Complicated–wtf? Is this or is this not the most banal evasive phrase ever uttered in response to any inquiry about human behavior?

“Why did you cheat on your significant other?”

“It’s Complicated.

I bet it is: pheromones and hormones influence humans in very complex ways. Don’t you just adore your nose? The Complicated things it tells your brain are Amazing and Awesome beyond compare.

Language, it’s Complicated.

Or are people simply too damn lazy to go beyond using stock phrases?

For the hell of it:

*

And then there’s :

It’s terribly complicated, dreadfully awesome and downright utterly amazing.

Heavy sigh.

Guilty, Guilty Pleasures —>>> Major Crimes with Mary McDonnell and company

The last time I posted about a television show was in regard to the American remake of the Swedish crime drama The Bridge.  Today it’s to do a little promotional hype for Major Crimes starring the incredible Mary McDonnell. Season 3 of Major Crimes starts Monday, June 9 on TNT and I am so looking forward to it. This spin-off from The Closer featuring Kyra Sedgwick would be well worth watching simply because of Mary McDonnell’s great portrayal of Captain Sharon Raydor as a very strong, independent, and very, very smart woman who has the rules down pat–and a lot more. McDonnell’s interview with Travis Smiley explains a great deal for anyone who has not yet discovered Major Crimes. Even if you don’t enjoy crime drama I think it’s worth listening to McDonnell discuss the Raydor character, power, acting and the needs of human beings–and selling brushes.

Another plus for Major Crimes in its first two seasons was the story line involving Captain Sharon Raydor and material witness Rusty Beck. Watching their relationship with each other and the rest of the characters grow and evolve brought unexpected considerable depth and substance to this drama. The concept of family is redefined by example in a much-needed manner for the discussions it has the potential to provoke. Unlike The Closer which had a certain formulaic feeling to the episodes featuring Brenda Johnson’s considerable talent for lying and manipulating people into confessions even when raising all sorts of issues including ethical issues about the ends justifying the means, Major Crimes is making its own way into the future. If you want predictable resolutions of plot-lines there’s always Law and Order to fall back into the comfort zone of neat little black and white packages. This isn’t to say that the criminal cases aren’t closed and resolved in Major Crimes–they are–but there’s a lot more going on than stereotypical criminal behavior.

There’s a great deal more attention paid to serious issues like sexually abused children. “These boys aren’t runaways. They’re throw-aways.” So says a man running a shelter for teenage boys living on the streets of LA.  Now for a society in which the mainstream jabbers constantly about family values and loving children so much this is a brutally honest statement of factual reality.  Its consequences for boys like the Rusty Beck–and other characters–holds up a mirror that reflects our society as all truly great dramas of the stage and screen do.  Clearly there are not enough Sharon Raydors willing to step up and care in our real world.  In most drama storylines children are summarily deposited with the Department of Family Services  and conveniently disappear from the script. In the first two seasons of Major Crimes, Rusty Beck didn’t disappear–and the writers used his character to full advantage.  I can’t tell from the promos or website if the very talented Graham Patrick Martin will continue in this role–but for the sake of abandoned children trying to survive in a hostile world I hope so. Being saved  is not the end of anyone’s story.

Oh and by the way, Rusty Beck loves playing chess.

&

Personally I think the fans on YouTube have made better promos for Major Crimes than TNT has dreamed up so far. Here’s a fun meet and greet video to get acquainted.

scorey5001

&

A short and to the point promo. ) I get it, this is probably for short promo time slots.

&

Mary McDonnell interview on The Travis Smiley Show. Yeah you want to watch. I think Smiley was very smitten. Oh yeah, he likes her shoes. Ah ha.

&

This particular choice of song and images conveys a great deal about the relationship between Rusty and Sharon.  Clearly this matters to viewers as there are many music videos on the tubes regarding this relationship.

&

Major Crimes Cookbook for the Sunshine Kids

Major CrimesTV

For more information or to order the Major Crimes Cookbook, click here: http://majorcrimestv.net/support-the-…

&

For cast profiles and more information visit  Major Crimes online: http://majorcrimestv.net/

~~~

I think I’m going to post more fan videos for Major Crimes on the sidebar. Yeah, I think I will. It’ll be fun–for me anyway.  I’ll make sure to find one with the scene where Sharon Raydor shoots a guy between the eyes with a red bean bag. Hey, he asks for it–literally.

UPDATE–the Beanbag scene is the headliner on the sidebar. Several of my favorite scenes follow along with some fan made videos featuring music. Charlie’s Angels is a hoot.

~~~

As for The Bridge–it’s all dark and dreadful in America and Mexico.  In Sweden there’s darkness and light–plus resolution. I recommend watching both versions.

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