BAM!

(Note, I meant to post this on the 26th, but apparently I never hit submit xD, sorry for the wait)

Hi,

Not enough people say hi I don't think, so I decided to start a trend. I think in a perfect world everyone on the street would say hi, or "I hope you're doing well today" or something like that to every other person on the street. Maybe everyone could have their own greeting that they would say, and since everyone would always say something, you could get away with saying some pretty awesome things like "Hey, I really hope your Mom's doing well". You may say "Then of course you'd have the people who's mom's have died, and they might get offended", but I kind of feel like we already have that base covered with the Jews that complain about get wished a Happy Christmas. I mean, even if the wish doesn't entirely apply to you, you shouldn't be offended that someone has taken the time to give you something out of a good intention. And that's kind of what I wanted to talk about today. HOWEVER I also realize that I didn't post anything yesterday and I kind of wanted to, so here's what I'll do: Today I am going to post things in *THREE SEGMENTS*-- Segment 1 will be yesterday, and Segment 2 will be today, and Segment 3 will be the overflow philosophic thought/cheesy jokes which will come to me along the way. I tell you this ahead of time so that you can plan your adventure accordingly, like a build your own adventure-- but more like a blog post. Then read Segment 4 to tie everything together.

1) So, yesterday I gave a speech in my Public Speaking class. We had to give a Narrative Speech (so a story), with a moral at the end. I actually think I pretty well nailed this assignment and was able to do so by reformating a story I typed up about 5 years ago on AIM. Now the thing about AIM is that you have to type in pieces- well i mean you don't have to, but you can. Which is different from other genres of writing obviously because the other person can absorb pieces at a time and even interrupt thoughts by getting a word in edgewise. In different situations this can be either a good or a bad thing (also depending on your perspective) : In a formal debate, exchanges are monitored to make sure that they fit within a specific amount of time, during which the other side can't say Squat (or any other word for that matter). This is because sensible people have points that take longer than two grunts and a swear word to express. At the same time, you can build..........................................suspense by dragging out stories/ putting time between responses (see what I did there?). So it's very interesting to look at the ways different kinds of communication affect what you say. I suddenly feel like giving poets a lot of credit all of a sudden because I finally understand the simple fact that normal writing is so damn limited.

2) Today I was in Taco Bell, and over heard a debate about if the sign "If you don't Dig the Food, Then we'll Eat the Bill!" was to be taken literally or not. This might make you sad, but at the time it made me very happy. It made me happy because it was the only discussion I had heard today where both sides actually were using logic to try to figure out the answer. The argument went beyond "I heard it on TV" and then "Oh, okay". Now here's a question for you, and I welcome feed back (InterPersonal communication-- Just one of many benefits to be found on mtmpid.blogspot.com!) : Do you think that the internet has ruined arguments? If someone wonders how far it is from here to Tokyo, you can just look it up on your phone- or at the very least when you get home. On the other hand, if you didn't have access to the internet, the argument wouldn't just cease to be. It used to be that question would arise and if the people involved didn't have the answer right off the bat, or if there was a difference in opinion, the involved parties would give logical arguments to support their case and then try to figure things out: "Well, I know that the earth spins this fast, and there are 24 time zones, and Tokyo is in time zone x, and we are in time zone y, so I would think Tokyo is about z miles away"....... now we use google. Now, here's the ACTUAL question I wanted to ask (fooled you- mawhahahaha) : Does it matter that we don't need to exercise logical thinking as often? Also, what do you think of memorizing facts? If you know that you can look up facts on the internet at any given time, does it matter is it beneficial to have them memorized? I don't mean random trivia, I mean things like, the approximate order of US presidents or how many Km are in a Mile. 

3) I guess what it all boils down to is this old question: If a tree falls in the forest... yadda yadda yadda. But seriously, let's look into this question a little more seriously then everyone takes it. Say you're the most elegant poet in the world, but you never write. Can you actually be considered a poet? Let's say you are a pretty intelligent person but you never use your brain. Are you actually intelligent at all?

While taking my acting class I and my classmates found one thing astonishing. Upon reaching 3rd semester it never failed to freak people out (even the ones that thought for sure it was something mundane up until they tried it). When you "acted" a part, you legit "became" a part. The more mannerisms and quirks you picked up the more you were your part- you couldn't help yourself- you thought thoughts that your character would think and you did things that your character would do because no other options even occurred to you. Now, let's apply this to real life. If you don't try to act intelligent, you will not become intelligent, and you will not remain intelligent. If you do not write poetry then you can not become or remain a poet.


When people think of phrase "practice makes perfect" they think of throwing a baseball or using the quadratic equation- the body and mind, but not the spirit. Dreams are lost because people do not think about what could be- humans have become purely reactionary. People only care about what *is* and what they want AT THAT TIME.  No one exercises their spirit- and it shows. Our lack of spirit shows in our cities, in our schools and in our homes. Love is the last reminiscent scrap of passion in our world and even that (especially that) is being cheapened each and every day.

4) So, to tie this all together (using one of 'dem conculzion thingies) :
I recommend exercising your Body, Mind, and Spirit. Personal bias says that the latter two are more important than the first, but even I work out for a bit each day (ever since I looked completely useless during a move I had recently-- pretty sad it was). To help you with this, or perhaps just on the side- you should pay attention to how communication effects your thoughts, and how your thoughts affect the way you communicate- not just what you say but how you say it: The words you use, the inflections you make and the format you put it in. You might come up with something interesting- if you do, be sure to post below (along with your responses to segment #2 ;) )

Turning Point I Do Suppose

Hello All,

And so we meet again..... If you can call this a meet up. Generally with a meet up you can interact with the other person. We can't really do that..... Unless I suppose you comment, which I am fully in support of-- in fact I would almost go so far as to say that I would appreciate it. If you need something to post about, just mention your favorite food and then *if you were that food* what your favorite movie would be. Get a little bit of role play going on in here.

Anyway, let's assume that you're not a jerk and you chose to comment, so that this is a legit interaction..... And so we meet again. I noticed, looking over it that I kind of rambled during my last post, which is kind of a shame because I think I had a lot of good points in there, but they are all sort of jumbled in with other stuff. So I'll try to keep this post concise.... but watch out for the lion.... they lash out when you least suspect it. And if you're like me and are a plate of Spaghetti watching Fight Club, then ALWAYS is when you least suspect it.

Now, on with the topic of discussion: Hindu Chakra. For those of you who are unaware of what the hell a "Chakra" is, (I haven't spend much money into researching who my Target Audience is, it could well be the majority of you), it's actually a piece of Eastern Philosophy that more or less states that you have several Spiritual "Zones" which are specialized for various things. Don't get me wrong I don't know too much about it, so I'm going to be researching into them and trying to figure the whole thing out--- Me being a Aristotelian Thinker, this might be quite a leap-- and I'll be keeping you updated (An Education in Eastern Philosophy-- Just one of many benefits to be found on mtmpid.blogspot.com!). Also, if anyone finds/knows anything about the Chakra that might be interesting, feel free to post a comment below.

Now you may be asking "How many miles is to the closest place to get a pizza?"      and to that I have to say : Not a clue, but Google Maps always helps me. BUT if instead you are asking "Max! Why the sudden interest in Hindu Chakra?" And to that I have to say : "Well, Maromub (Most Admired Reader Of My Ultimate Blog), I have surely watched waaaay too many movies where the main character has some split personality disorder. I have also taken just enough Psychology to get me into trouble. According to studies, pretty much everyone shows signs of multiple personality disorder- the question is why? I think, very seriously the answer to this "why?" is most easily described as a way of coping with the world around us- to make a literary reference: "Double-Think". No matter how much we'd like to think otherwise, our minds are riddled with contradictions.

So...... I just typed out all of my thoughts on this issue and it was like 4 pages, so I was like "Damn... that's like 4 pages.... that's like.... a lot of reading to do for Maromub." So let's sketch it out real quick:
Basically, if you accept that you have different personalities governing your brain,
but find a way to balance all of them, you can prolly be a pretty awesome person
Because you can like, have them specialized and stuff
Specialized professions is considered a requirement of civilization
And if you ask me I'd rather my mind be set up like Rome
Rather than all of those tribes that Rome went and kicked the crap out of
.... I'll just be sure to set up a Republic... and not an Empire
Because that one didn't turn out so well.

So I think I'm going to look into this whole Chakra thing and maybe start defining some personalities.
I'll keep you updated.

-Maxwell Thomaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Oh God! GAAAAAAAAAHRRRRRR

P.S. --I HATE LIONS

CONTINUED

So, if you haven't looked at the title of this post yet, I'll pause for a moment to allow you to do so....... alright, so you might notice that it's named "continued" and you might think "what a strange name for a title. I wonder why he did that?" and BAM! I have a reason: because no matter how little you all suspected it- no matter how insignificant it seemed at the time, I actually set up the topic of THIS post in my LAST post.

Yes yes, I know you're surprised- I heard the collective [gasp][/gasp] from all of you... (Coding humor when you least suspect it! Just one of many features found at mtmpid.blogspot.com!).... but it's true. In my last post I mentioned that I watched a different movie for the first time each day, every day for a week. Then i went on to only list SIX movies. [For those of you who are unfamiliar: In the Gregorian Calender there are actually 7 days in week.]

Now, I knew that I had watched a 7th movie, but what could it have been? I pondered this last night but to no avail. Finally, today at noon it came to me: Run Lola Run- an awesome German Film shot in a style I would describe as very Grudge. I think it had the chick from the 5th Element, and it must be her Actress Aura or something because I feel like she brought a kind of unnatural but intense feeling to both of those movies. In any case, this got me to wondering. One who thought everything happened for a reason might explain that lapse of thought by saying that I had to forget that movie last night, otherwise this post would not exist - or at least in this form.

As a side note I'd like to point out that in fact, this post probably belongs most to my brother Bill MacKenzie -even more than to Lola or my memory lapse- for he called me earlier tonight encouraging me to write a post, and without him I would not have felt so determined to make this post tonight- trust me there were other and worse options. So hat's off to Brother Bill who made this possible. Some would comment that this particular situation proves that positive family influences, no matter how strange might keep someone on the right path.

I think you can kind of relate this situation to Run Lola Run. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie: Run Lola Run is basically a movie in which a girl runs through a day of dire risks. She is given a super power to accomplish this task- due to an incredible feat of luck called "landing a telephone off from a 180 degree flip over the shoulder turn in synch with a television show"- she can now live through the day 3 times making slightly different decisions each time. This contract with fate is not explained in full during the movie, but one can infer such a deal took place by watching the stunning implications in the movie- it really ties in well. As a result the main character is able to solve all of her problems as well as the problems of several other key characters in the movie-- who by the way, are just side characters with no influence on the plot, but due to some amazing risks the director took, become emotionally tied to the audience (or vice-versa). This amazing illustration of people who are in "legit: cruel" situations and have good intentions. To clarify, I'm saying that there are basically two concepts out there in the political realm:
1) The thought that the poor are a result of their environment
2) The thought that the poor are a result of their actions
Honestly, I think both sides must be blind to not figure this one out. How about it's both factors? It doesn't matter if it's one side more than the other? Maybe it's the slums and limited opportunities the poor have and ALSO the fact that those people don't try as hard as they should? That's not so hard to admit is it? That it's both parties fault- if every poor person tried as hard as they could we would surely have a different system by now. But on average, almost no one from any class or background tries as hard as they can. Almost everyone takes a day or two off.

So my question is, can the Rich really cast a stone on the Poor for them not trying hard enough? According to Classical and Biblical logic, the Rich can not do so. And can the Poor cast a stone on the Rich for setting the system up this way? Surely not, for that is what is to be expected. So obviously what we need is not a system that helps the Poor, or a system that helps the Rich. We need a system that helps both the Poor and the Rich. One logical-philosophical argument that supports This View- a kind of "meta-socialist meets best-case-scenario Libertarian" View- says that if this view is correct, then in a thought experiment, there must be some evidence that a Poor Person, given a second or third chance would act as responsibly and do as well as a Rich Person. For according to Aristotle, (Paraphrase): you can only judge a party on their ethics while looking at actions they took when Well Informed. The Poor are rarely given the chance to be well informed. Therefore, I am not convinced that either Political Party is looking at this "Poor/Rich" situation correctly.

Now, I may be sounding crazy right now, but I'm still being semi-serious here: To say that both Parties are out of touch is not something we should say half-heartedly. These parties do not fit the modern world and they are going absolutely insane because of it. For illustration purposes, let me lay out the options I had in front of me last election:
1) Vote McCain: Give my family reason to think that I'm "Out-of-Control Conservative" which would literally alienate me from exactly 1/2 of my family, slightly alter my self view as someone who associates with far rightest movements, and let's face it: value the spirit of a young Alaskan woman over a young black male.
2) Vote Obama: do the exact same as above; but the other side of the coin.
My Point: Like in Run Lola Run, we as Young American citizens have a strong and important mission before us. If we were given 3 chances for every decision we make, we could make the right one every time. But for us, the Young American Voters, we need 3 tries because the options are HORRIBLE.

The Republicans say we need to loosen on Gun Laws, Deport Mexicans, and Bomb everything in the Middle East, meanwhile trying to lower Taxes AND Regulations. Meanwhile expecting me to put my future in the hands of a man who is nearly four times as old as me, and a young lady who is only twice as old as me? (I feel like candidates should be like 50-55)

On the other hand the Democrats show off their package as a Stripping of several rights, which only comes as a natural result of the additional tightening of regulations, Raised Taxes and an disappointing lack of cross-continential Diplomatic Skills. I am sorry but anyone that can defend Obama's charisma after the blunders he had with all of our major allies should seek medical attention now. In addition I was asked to place my trust in a man who was so young his own party had to overcompensate by adding to the team the most ancient piece of politician they could muster up from their side. This lead to a strange parallel- each side had one old and one young character- the old dude was always white and the young one was a minority. Holy Crap is that a plee to compromise on the most Superficial level ever? I thought so too. How about the parties cut the crap right now and work on some serious issues-- MAYBE try to rescue our ECONOMY rather than playing to the "gossip needs" of the (disturbingly large) portion of our population by showcasing a young male African American and a White Country Gal from Up North-Yonder.

This is why I think Run Lola Run is a perfect representation of our World Today. We live in a world where we need THREE TRIES on every decision to make a half way decent choice. Probably because we are trying to deal with every situation in our lives in the say way our society deals with it's problems- by looking at the superficial in like we are some kind of -Awe Stricken Sheep- (I find it funny that the acronym there would be "ASS".... tee hee *giggle giggle*).....anyway, that's how we look at it, and then we go about getting into ridiculously polarized babble fights over the serious issues... just like see on TV.

I think that: WE need to step the fuck up and work on getting things done right the FIRST TIME, because we only get One shot- not Three. It may be unfair, but if we don't step up our kids are going to have it off twice as bad and they won't have anyone to blame but us.

I say: Let's not accept our two BS options. Let's do everything in our power to boycott the two IDIOTIC mascots the parties tote around. We want change, but not a change of Face: We want a Change in the way politics are run. We want politicians that know what the hell they are doing and are in office because they have a LOGICAL opinion on how to get out of this mess.

In these things I pray wholeheartedly.

Toooooooday

So, I realize quite thoroughly that after setting up my blogger account I kind of skipped a day. This is probably bad because it doesn't really show a lot of consistency- so far I'm 1 for 2, BUT! Circle K has these really good hot dogs that are also $1 for 2, and they are really good, so maybe my blog can be like that. Like two hot dogs, for a dollar. Now, to throw myself a bone, if you take the literal time into account, it has only been like 38 hours and not 48 hours since I last posted, so I guess you could say it hasn't been two days yet. I don't know where I'm going with that but I felt like it needed to be said.

So, anyway, I thought I might actually talk a little about my current life in this post if you don't mind.... or even if you do mind. So, basically growing up I thought I had seen like every movie ever made. This is because my dad and I would watch like a movie or two every day after school until I was in like 8th grade. However, I recently realized that IN FACT, no matter how many times you watch The Shawshank Redemption and the Terminator movies over and over again you still have only actually watched 3 movies (I pretend Terminator 3 doesn't exist).


SO! As it turns out, I am not nearly as well versed in popular cinema as I once thought I was. To remedy this most dismal situation, I took a recent week and watched one recommended movie a day, resulting in 6 awesome movies being pinned under my belt. Well maybe on my belt. Or on my wall? Are movies heads that you put on your wall, or are they more like merit badges? Maybe you put them under your hat? I'm not really sure, but, if they were elephants I'd have 6 of them and I'd name them the following:
Pulp Fiction
A Clockwork Orange
American History X
Choke
Social Network
 Death to the Tin Man
All of these movies are awesome, but if I were to rank them, it would not at all resemble the list above, but instead go 1, 6, 4, 5, 2, 3. Don't get me wrong all of these things have awesome things to say, and have probably changed my life forever. And remember: Forever is a long time. BUT, more importantly then all of these, or any movie in fact, I have been most impressed with The Office. That's right, a television show. Let me just say that as far as artistic quality, Television is kicking Movies in the Kotush. Sure, in a movie you can have flashier effects and bigger budgets and such, but you just can't get the characters down........ INTERMISSION: by the way, I bought a video camera and totally have decided to use it in awesome ways so stay tuned...... AND NOW WE'RE BACK: ..... which really is what drives people's interest I think. Don't get me wrong there are specific feelings that Movies can generate that TV shows just can't BECAUSE of the pace of each. If you had every episode of a show have as much plot as a movie does, you'd run out of things to say really fast, and you'd dissolve into stupidity within the first season- which is the problem with most Anime, if you're interested in that at all.
In anycase, I used to think that The Office was really dumb, but after watching all 6 seasons within two weeks (damn.), it's really grown on me (along with some kind of moss from the couch). I can't recommend it enough.

And done.

Welcome and all that Jazz

I am happy. I am happy because if you're reading this then BAM! I have at least One reader, and that is cause for celebration because at the time of writing this I have Zero readers, which means that you are a 100% improvement in my quality of living.... if measured in quantity of readers. And actually, depending on how you look at it, you might not only be a 100% improvement, but actually an undefined improvement because I'm not really sure if you subtract the original from the current and then put it over the original, oooor if it's the   other     way     around         or. Yup.

So Welcome to my blog, you are important to me and I love you         but like a friend. Yup.

It might help to explain that I didn't really have a plan to set up a blog. I just thought "Hey wouldn't it be cool if I could keep a journal but make it so that it was available to everyone and then pretend that people read it?" Well, then I thought "Oh." And then I set up a Blogger Account. So here we are. Welcome.

I'll be posting stuff here, about my life. If you don't read it I'll pretend that you do anyway, which means in some sense of the word "truth" you really are reading it. Which is why we don't let Philosophers teach in schools. Too powerful. Like the Dark Arts.

Fear Me. And enjoy my blog.

Simultaneously.

-Maxwell Thomas Mackenzie