See how 21st century cinema "improves"(?) and develops what has gone before:



1975




2002

A vast Improvement we say:

http://www.rifftrax.com/

Hallucogenic Mushrooms and Evolution by Terence Mckenna    

Friedrich Nietzsche the Gay Science    

    Projections change the world into the replica of one's own unknown face.

Aion (1955). CW 14: P.17

   Unfortunately there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. If an inferiority is conscious, one always has a chance to correct it. Furthermore, it is constantly in contact with other interests, so that it is continually subjected to modifications. But if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected.

"Psychology and Religion" (1938). In CW 11: Psychology and Religion: West and East. P.131

    No, the demons are not banished; that is a difficult task that still lies ahead. Now that the angel of history has abandoned the Germans,* the demons will seek a new victim. And that won't be difficult. Every man who loses his shadow, every nation that falls into self-righteousness, is their prey.... We should not forget that exactly the same fatal tendency to collectivization is present in the victorious nations as in the Germans, that they can just as suddenly become a victim of the demonic powers.

"The Postwar Psychic Problems of the Germans" (1945)
*Written I945.




    We know that the wildest and most moving dramas are played not in the theatre but in the hearts of ordinary men and women who pass by without exciting attention, and who betray to the world nothing of the conflicts that rage within them except possibly by a nervous breakdown. What is so difficult for the layman to grasp is the fact that in most cases the patients themselves have no suspicion whatever of the internecine war raging in their unconscious. If we remember that there are many people who understand nothing at all about themselves, we shall be less surprised at the realization that there are also people who are utterly unaware of their actual conflicts.

"New Paths in Psychology" (1912). In CW 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology. P.425

    Taking it in its deepest sense, the shadow is the invisible saurian tail that man still drags behind him. Carefully amputated, it becomes the healing serpent of the mysteries. Only monkeys parade with it.



The Integration of the Personality. (1939).
 
    How else could it have occurred to man to divide the cosmos, on the analogy of day and night, summer and winter, into a bright day-world and a dark night-world peopled with fabulous monsters, unless he had the prototype of such a division in himself, in the polarity between the conscious and the invisible and unknowable unconscious? Primitive man's perception of objects is conditioned only partly by the objective behaviour of the things themselves, whereas a much greater part is often played by intrapsychic facts which are not related to the external objects except by way of projection. This is due to the simple fact that the primitive has not yet experienced that ascetic discipline of mind known to us as the critique of knowledge. To him the world is a more or less fluid phenomenon within the stream of his own fantasy, where subject and object are undifferentiated and in a state of mutual interpenetration.

"Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype" (1939) In CW 9, Part 1: The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. P. 187
 

    We carry our past with us, to wit, the primitive and inferior man with his desires and emotions, and it is only with an enormous effort that we can detach ourselves from this burden. If it comes to a neurosis, we invariably have to deal with a considerably intensified shadow. And if such a person wants to be cured it is necessary to find a way in which his conscious personality and his shadow can live together.

"Answer to Job" (1952). In CW 11: Psychology and Religion: West and East. P.12




    When we must deal with problems, we instinctively resist trying the way that leads through obscurity and darkness. We wish to hear only of unequivocal results, and completely forget that these results can only be brought about when we have ventured into and emerged again from the darkness. But to penetrate the darkness we must summon all the powers of enlightenment that consciousness can offer.

"The Stages of Life" (1930). In CW 8: The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche. P.752


    To confront a person with his shadow is to show him his own light. Once one has experienced a few times what it is like to stand judgingly between the opposites, one begins to understand what is meant by the self. Anyone who perceives his shadow and his light simultaneously sees himself from two sides and thus gets in the middle.

"Good and Evil in Analytical Psychology" (1959). In CW 10. Civilization in Transition. P.872
 

of the black magicians exposed - ramsey dukes    

Marv has been a little busy of late. Seems the nerd is spending his/her time between two places: Ferelden and somewhere else with a roadie called Eddy (don't ask). S/He claims this is part of a 3 month long magical working developed while reading the hidden works of Marsilio Facino  that s/he discovered while researching the Pythagorean Mystery School (S/He keeps drawing circles with dots in a middle and all sorts of other bollocks). To be honest we think it's just an excuse to listen to he/r Manilla Road cd collection - but what do we know. Anyway, s/he returned to the land of the living to insist we publish the following. So there you go:

Activision’s Bobby Kotick hates developers, innovation, cheap games, you

But should you REALLY look behind the SEVENTH door? &, what a number huh?

Door 1



Door 2




Door 3




Door 4



Door 5



Door 6




Door 6 (continued)




And now....

DOOR 7


Bahá'í

    * The mystical text "The Seven Valleys", by the Prophet-Founder Bahá'u'lláh, relates the journey of the soul through the seven "valleys" of Search, Love, Knowledge, Unity, Contentment, Wonderment, and finally True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness.

 Christianity

The number seven (7) in the seven days of Creation is typological and the number seven appears commonly elsewhere in the Bible. These include:

    * Seven days of Creation (Genesis 1)
    * Seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41)
    * Seven days of the feast of Passover (Exodus 13:3-10)
    * Seven day week and the pattern concerning distribution and use of manna (Exodus 16)
    * Seven year cycle around the years of Jubilee (Leviticus 25)
    * The fall of the walls of Jericho on the seventh day after marching around the city seven times(Joshua 6)
    * Seven things the LORD hates (Proverbs 6:16-19)
    * Seven loaves multiplied into seven baskets of surplus (Matthew 15:32-37)
    * The Seven last words (or seven last sayings) of Jesus on the cross.
    * Seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom (Acts 6:3)
    * Seven Spirits of God are mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
    * Seven churches of Asia to which the "Book of Revelation" is addressed.
    * Seven churches, seven stars, seven seals, seven last plagues, seven vials or bowls, seven thunders in the Revelation, the last book of the Bible.

Other sevens in Christian knowledge and practice include:

    * The Seven Sacraments in the Catholic faith (though some traditions assign a different number).
    * Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
    * The Seven Joys of the Virgin Mary, of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions.
    * The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions.
    * The Seven Corporal Acts of Mercy and Seven Spiritual Acts of Mercy of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions.
    * The Seven Virtues: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, and humility
    * The Seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.
    * The seven terraces of Mount Purgatory (one per deadly sin).
    * In the genealogy in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is 77th in a direct line.
    * The number of heads of the three beasts (7 × 10 × 7 + 7 × 10 × 10 + 7 × 10 = 1260) of the Book of Revelation, and of some other monsters, like the hydra and the number of seals.
    * In the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew 18:21, Jesus says to Peter to forgive seventy times seven times.[4]
    * There are seven suicides mentioned in the Bible (OT and NT)[5]

 Hinduism

    * The Sanskrit word 'sapta' refers to number seven.
    * The Indian Music has 'sapta swaras', means seven octats (sa re gan MA pa dha ni), which are basics of music, using which hundreds of Ragas are composed.
    * Celestial group of seven stars are named as 'Sapta Rishi' based on the seven great saints.
    * Seven Promises, Seven Rounds in Hindu Wedding and Seven Reincarnation
    * As per Hindu mythology, there are seven worlds in the universe, seven seas in the world and seven Rishies (seven gurus) called sapta rishis.
    * Seven hills at tirumala also known as ezhu malaiyan means Sevenhills god
    * There are 7 Chakras.

Islam

    * The number of ayat in surat al-Fatiha.
    * The number of heavens in Islamic tradition.
    * The number of levels of Earth in Islamic tradition.
    * The number of circumambulations (Tawaf) that are made around the Kaaba
    * The number of walks between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah mountains -that is travelling back and forth- seven times during the ritual pilgrimages of Hajj and Umrah.
    * The number of fires in hell. i.e the 7 fires of hell.
    * The number of doors to hell is also seven.

Judaism

    * A highly symbolic number in the Torah, alluding to the infusion of spirituality and Godliness into the creation. For example:
          o God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Shabbat). – Genesis 2:3. "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars." – Proverbs of Solomon son of David King of Israel 9:1
          o A seven-day purification period is required for one who has become tamei to become tahor.
          o The Shmita (Sabbatical) year arrives every seventh year.
          o The Jubilee (Yovel) year comes after 7 times 7 years.
          o The Counting of the Omer leading up to the Giving of the Torah is expressed as "7 times 7 weeks."
          o There are 7 days of Passover and Sukkot when celebrated in Israel.
          o Shiv..a (another pronunciation of the Hebrew word for 7—(Hebrew: שבעה ; "seven")), is the number of days of mourning. Hence, one sits Shiva. As in Shiva (Judaism)
    * The weekly Torah portion is divided into seven aliyahs, and seven Jewish men (or boys over the age of 13 who are considered men; Bar Mitzvah) are called up for the reading of these aliyahs during Shabbat morning services.
    * Seven blessings are recited under the chuppah during a Jewish wedding ceremony.
    * A Jewish bride and groom are feted with seven days of festive meals after their wedding, known as Sheva Berachot ("Seven Blessings").
    * The number of Ushpizzin (also known as the "Seven Shepherds") who visit the sukkah during the holiday of Sukkot: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David.
    * The number of nations God told the Israelites they would displace when they entered the land of Israel (Deut. 7:1): the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
    * In Breslov tradition, the seven orifices of the face (2 eyes, 2 nostrils, 2 ears, and the mouth) are called "The Seven Candles."
    * The menorah (Hebrew: מנורה), is a seven branched candelabrum lit by olive oil in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. The menorah is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish people. It is said to symbolize the burning bush as seen by Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25).
    * The number of times Cain will be avenged by God if he is murdered (Gen 4:15).
    * The Israelites circled Jericho for 7 days and then the wall tumbled down.

Others

    * The number of Archangels according to some systems.
    * The minor symbol number of yang from the Taoist yin-yang.
    * The number of palms in an Egyptian Sacred Cubit.
    * The number of ranks in Mithraism.
    * The number seven is of particular significance within Cherokee cosmology.
    * In Buddhism, Buddha walked 7 steps at his birth.
    * Circle Seven Koran, the holy scripture of the Moorish Science Temple of America
    * In Spanish and other Romance Languages, cats are said to have 7 lives as opposed to English, where cats are said to have 9 lives.
    * In Iran cats are also said to have 7 lives. [6]

In mythology

    * In Khasi mythology, the seven divine women who were left behind on earth and became the ancestresses of all humankind.
    * The number of gateways traversed by Inanna during her descent into the underworld.
    * The number of sleeping men in the Christian myth of the "Seven Sleepers."
    * The Seven Sages in Sumerian mythology[citation needed] and various other mythologies.
    * The number of sages in Hindu mythology; their wives are the goddesses referred to as the "Seven Mothers."
    * The number of main islands of mythological Atlantis.
    * In Guaraní mythology, the number of prominent legendary monsters.
    * Seven Lucky Gods exist in Japanese mythology.
    * In Irish Mythology, the epic hero Cúchulainn is associated with the number 7. He has 7 fingers on each hand, 7 toes on each foot, and 7 pupils in each eye. In the Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailnge, Cúchulainn is 7 years old when he receives his first weapons and defeats the armies of the Ulaidh. and his son Connla is 7 years old when he is slain by Cúchulainn in "The Death of Aife's Only Son".
    * In British Folk lore, every 7 years the Fairy Queen pays a tithe to Hell (or possibly Hel) in the tale of Tam Lin.
    * In the British Folk tale of Thomas the Rhymer, he went to live in the faerie kingdom for 7 years.
    * The 7th glyph of the Mayan Calendar is Blue Hand, it represents the days in creation and is associated with creative perfection. This is the glyph of the last day of their calendar that ends on December 21 2012.
    * The seven branched sword in Korean mythology.

And some of the other things are actually interesting. Only kidding, we love AJ - hail Eris, hail OM; or something like that. And not a hint of TM arse bouncing in sight.

And before reading and watching below, note that somehow this movie produced a soundtrack written by Jack Nitzsche and performed - for the one and only time together (special, one time offer - no money back)  - Miles Davis, Tim Drummond, John Lee Hooker, , Roy Rodgers  and Taj Mahal. You can listen to some of it while reading the essay below - if you can be arsed.

..


..


Cast:      Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Martin Smith,
William Sadler, Jerry Hardin, Barry Corbin
Genre:     Film-Noir
Director:     Dennis Hopper
Screenplay:     Nona Tyson, Charles Williams, based on the novel "Hell Hath No Fury" by Charles Williams.
Cinematography:     Ueli Steiger
Composer:     Jack Nitzsche
Runtime:     130 minutes

"It's not the fallin' down honey: it's the climb back up," - Dolly Harshaw

Over the brief period starting with 1941's The Maltese Falcon and ending with 1958's Touch Of Evil, film-noir produced so many of the best movies. It was a low budget genre, but it was the artist's genre, known for its shadows and shades of gray. Largely for that reason, it's the only genre that consistently plays better in black and white and it's entries play as well today as any genre entries from the pre-color era. Almost all the best directors of the time made noir: Hitchcock, Welles, Lang, Wilder, Huston, Kubrick, etc. all had excellent entries into the genre. During the Second World War, filmgoers were more apt to embrace the doom-laden pictures because they were more cynical and depressed than when everything was going well. As people got over the war, Hollywood turned back to Happyville and the genre almost totally vanished. Dennis Hopper is clearly a big fan of the genre, and he has experience in it acting for the great Nicholas Ray and productive Henry Hathaway, but he wasn't going to waste one of his rare directorial efforts simply paying homage. He was determined to take the genre Out Of The Past and into the future.

One way to improve on something is to make a film that couldn't be made before. The genre was always steeped in sex, but with the fearsome censors, it could only be alluded to. That arguably robbed the films of the deep erotic bond that brought home how the man could screw his life up so badly over the fatale. Any search for the film on ebay would quickly bring home the fact that the film is most remembered today for Jennifer Connelly's first and best nude scene that made a film (unlike this scene that doesn't have a chance to be, the Waking The Dead deleted scene I Want to Have a Child is also amazing for her performance). It's understandable in a way because many jaws may never be the same, but as a whole it's a great tragedy. Hopper has not simply made a cheap midnight movie; he's made a well rounded movie that, while not in the class with Double Indemnity, is true to what came before him, and at the same time represents the movie you know some of his predecessors wanted to make.

Hopper calls The Hot Spot his "Last Tango In Texas", but it's closest modern inspiration does not appear to be the Bernardo Bertolucci classic. It appears to be a movie that Hopper gave one of his most fascinating performances in, David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Both are noirish, but also two of the best films about small town America. Neither try to give a thorough explanation of this subject, it's more that they have fun with the way the setting defines the people's lives, gets/makes the people act. The Hot Spot isn't shocking and controversial though, and doesn't have any characters whose existence you question. It doesn't need to because its topic is dishonesty, and although shady characters come in all shapes and sizes, the ones that don't look shady tend to have the edge. The Hot Spot simply takes ideas from Blue Velvet, mixes them with elements from classic noirs and some of Hopper's own ideas on how to improve things to make a new worthy film that observes the conventions of old worthy films.


The film stars Don Johnson as Harry Maddux, a loner who drifts into a steamy small Texas town. The Hot Spot was filmed in Taylor, but the town is unnamed because it is representative of many small towns. This town is ridiculously hot, which Hopper shows with varying shots that are slightly blurred and wavy due to the heat coming up from the road/ground. Even before Johnson sees Jennifer Connelly, his face is gleaming with perspiration. Although we don't know what messes Maddux has gotten himself into, we quickly get the idea that he's always moving away from a place he needs to leave behind.

Maddux almost immediately finds his way to the nudie bar, an effectively shot scene with the darks associated with noir but also the seductive color gels and the fitting Billy Squier tune, The Stroke. Upon exiting the bar, Johnson starts walking coolly and slowly in search of something and soon we see Connelly walk into the far background. We see her enough to get the idea, the image, but she's kept much too distant for us to get the full effect. She's walking her dog to the car dealership, and as the dog wags its tale, Johnson immediately starts following hers.

In a funny albeit unbelievable scene, Maddux makes himself a car salesman by impersonating a senior rep after the real salesman has failed. He's so smooth that within two minutes, he's sold the guy a car in spite of only deducting a mere $100 off the down payment. Johnson is not extending his range here, but he knows this slick role inside out, and is far more effective than usual playing it because he's working with a strong script and surrounded by quality people.

Maddux is interested in two things, easy money and women. He's a fearless and cocky insubordinate, the kind who gets his way because he knows how to handle all types and won't back down from anyone. His problem is when it comes to women; he thinks too much with the little head and wants whatever it likes as soon as he can get it. His overconfidence combined with his lack of patience results in him jumping head long into dangerous relationships.

..


If All-American girl were in the dictionary, Connelly's picture should be there. Her Gloria Harper is pure, sweet, innocent, virginal, good-hearted, and obviously remarkably beautiful. You fall in love with her, immediately. As usual, Connelly doesn't have an overabundance of lines, but she never needs them because everything she does is defined by the feeling she gives her characters. That's where you really see how much she's grown as an actress because she's quite good here with her soft-spoken sweetness and already uses her eyes better than the vast majority of performers (particularly in the early scenes surrounding Sutton making the payments he owes), but we don't see the deep level of emotional honesty associated with some of her later characters. Her accent seems to hinder her a bit and she's just not as natural and comfortable as she is in all her later roles except perhaps The Rocketeer. It's partly because she hasn't come into her own as a performer yet, but also I don't think she sees herself as the dream girl. That's alright for this role because it doesn't require as much as her better subsequent roles and she's already got enough realness to be as credible as anyone with her looks can be when she claims she's "ordinary." I can't picture anyone more suitable for the role: she has that persona where you desperately want her but at the same time respect her. She carries herself very well here, and does some excellent understated facial acting. However, there are still a few points, like the scene where she breaks down talking about why her best friend is dead, where I feel like I'm watching Jennifer Connelly playing Gloria Harper rather than totally her more recent work where you "totally believe" Jennifer Connelly is Sarah Williams. That said, both Connelly and Virginia Madsen are far more convincing than the vaunted and far more experienced Jodie Foster was in the previous Hopper film, the greatly inferior Backtrack.

Maddux is one of those employees who only look out for himself. He gets paid if he can sell a car, so selling cars is the only task he plans to take on at work. He quickly changes his tune about driving the bookkeeper Gloria to repossess a car from Frank Sutton (William Sadler) when he realizes Gloria is the woman he followed to the dealership.

Maddux just walks into Sutton's house and starts looking around, checking out the pictures of naked women that are clothes pinned up, when Sutton doesn't answer. That sums up his character, he's the kind of person that does what he wants even though he knows it's wrong. Gloria goes off on her own for a few seconds to see if Sutton is at the spring, long enough to find him and have him pay her, which Maddux finds out is bullshit a few seconds later when the slimy trapper pulls in on his dirt mobile.

..

One thing Connelly does really well is show that Gloria is a lousy liar because that kind of thing isn't in Gloria's nature. She has a deep dark secret that involves Sutton, but we understand that she's a good person bruised by someone in this bad world. Maddux quickly realizes that too when he tries to take advantage of her by kissing her while they are driving back to work. She doesn't go along with it so it's "about as much fun as kissing a passed out drunk." It gets him to realize she's not like the floozies his life has been a succession of jams over. Bruises can be covered and they should eventually heal. She tries to hers because it should not be a part of her, and no one should look at her differently due to it, but they will if they know it's there. This realization makes Maddux want to change, to get away with her and some money and live a good, clean life. Pulling this off will be really tough though because he'll have to be the person he wants to be around her, not the person he is. At work, Gloria is almost always shown through a window. This marks both a barrier separating the two, and the fact that she's always looking on so Maddux has to watch himself.


The underrated Virginia Madsen steals the show as the Lana Turner inspired femme fatale. She plays the manipulative sultry seductress Dolly Harshaw, wife of Maddux's boss George (Jerry Hardin). We first see drive up when Maddux & the other salesman, Lon Gulick (Charles Martin Smith) are washing cars while the boss is on his lunch break. Maddux is having a little fun, spraying the window the Gloria is watching them from, but Lon has Maddux give him the hose because he wants nothing to do with Dolly. Lon knows that managing Little League might not be the most exciting pastime, but it's a lot wiser and safer than having anything to do with Dolly. Unfortunately, sometimes looking out for yourself means throwing your friend to the wolf. Hopper likes to throw in these little effects. For instance, when Lon hears that Maddux is going to go and help Dolly, suddenly we get a squeaky sound from the hood of the car Lon's drying like breaks that don't stop well.

Dolly is a naughty little wise cracker that talks in double entendres and always gets what she wants. What she wants certainly isn't her husband, who "got everything he paid for." What she wants certainly isn't to be a lonely, bored, and frustrated housewife. She is very clever and likes to play mind games. Early on she says to Maddux, "there are only two things to do around here. You got a TV?" When Maddux answers "no," she says, "well, now you are down to one. Lots of luck."

Maddux & Dolly are a lot alike. They both believe they'll play everyone and do everything right, resulting in them "winning." That's how Maddux winds up spending his nights having sex with Dolly. Choosing Connelly over Madsen would be easy. However, all Maddux was doing at night was sitting around and sweating in his rented room and he realizes it could be months before days and nights are spent with Gloria. The movie is a mental battle between the two players, Maddux & Dolly. If everything works out for Maddux, he'll leave this boring little down with Gloria and a bag of money that he stole from the bank. If everything works out for Dolly, she'll leave the town with Maddux and whatever money her husband left her in his will.

What makes the movie more than your typical con movie is the big difference between Maddux & Dolly. Maddux wants to change, and that has little to do with him being tired of the crime. He wants to change because one way or another women have always screwed things up for him. In Gloria, he thinks he's finally found one who won't, someone who he can trust. Connelly's desperation is rightfully understated; it's there enough for Maddux to understand he can save her and himself without making her character seem the least bit weak or helpless. Unfortunately, Maddux's nature just won't let him be patient enough to try to see their relationship through the right way. He does great when she's around, but the rest of the time he's not exactly honorable. Dolly, on the other hand, is proud of her debauchery. She can be because she knows exactly what she is, and is proud of her "accomplishments" even though they haven't exactly brought her happiness. That she has so much fun bragging and flaunting makes us want to see her get her comeuppance that much more. In noir the man almost always loses, so we don't know how likely that is, but it makes for an interesting movie.

The writing is really good. The characters might not be the deepest, but they work and all the performers really bring them to life. All the secondary characters are interesting and believable, but also humorous and/or colorful in their own way. William Sadler is particularly good as the greasy dirtbag Sutton, a man whose appearance you look down upon but you don't want to underestimate. Jerry Hardin is also impressive as George Harshaw, the husband who thinks so much of himself, but has no idea how far out of his depth he is both physically and mentally.

There's nothing wordy or elegant to the script, but it's really clever and well structured. Essentially every sentence advances the plot in some way, is designed to get a response even if not the one the words would normally imply, or both. It's largely a battle of wills with Johnson battling his boss, Sutton, Dolly, & the police and Madsen battling Johnson. The movie keeps you guessing with several twists and turns that are believable enough. Obviously noir isn't the foremost genre for believability, but this is a lot more believable than say the famous neo-noir Body Heat, and I believe a slightly better overall movie.

The Hot Spot is fairly humorous. A building is burning down and Johnson hopes it's not the dive he's staying at simply because he forgot to insure his suit.  Johnson is consistently a wise ass to his boss. My favorite example is when George points out that he hasn't set the world on fire, Johnson says if he has ambition, if he sticks around selling jalopies for another 30-40 years, someone will give him a testimonial and a $40 watch. The movie is theoretically "long," running almost 2hr 10minutes, but it's grippingly interesting and entertaining throughout.

..

Like everything else, the movie has a few flaws. The biggest is a clever idea that goes awry. When we first realize Dolly is jealous of Gloria and isn't going to lose to a kid, we see Maddux admiring Gloria's shoes. Dolly says, "I have a pair of shoes like those. I oughta wear them more often. They seem to be more effective than I remember." Later on, Maddux barges in on Sutton while he's having sex. Sutton immediately shoots and the woman flees. We know it's either Gloria or Dolly because she doesn't have time to put those shoes on. The problem is, Connelly and Madsen don't look or sound alike. When we hear one of them moaning and see their unclothed body running out of the room, even though it's dark and they are out of their quickly, it's obvious which one of them it is. The movie would have worked a lot better if we only heard Sutton and saw someone with a sheet over them dash out.

Buy at Art.com
For the most part, The Hot Spot is a really interestingly and effective production. I'm not a blues fan, but one can't deny the moody goodness of this soundtrack. Hopper has gotten some big names like John Lee Hooker and the late Miles Davis and to back him up. Jack Nitzsche's work and all the songs are so fitting to the setting and mood.

The contrast between Connelly's scenes and Madsen's scenes is the kind you couldn't get in the old noirs. Connelly scenes are filmed in bright daylight on nice days with as much scenery and foliage as possible. She is the brightness in Maddux's life, possibly his last chance to escape the life of corruption and excess he's hidden from her, so she's made to glow. The only time we see her in the dark is when Maddux is arrested right after bringing her home. This leads to one of the best shots of the film, Maddux sitting on the bed in his prison cell. Through the bars over the window, we can see a nice scene with grass and what looks like some kind of cliff, but the light that comes in through this window doesn't shine on his face so we couldn't even tell it was him if we didn't know.

Madsen is the bad girl, so she's always in the dark and shadows. This is nothing new, but we get reds, neons, a lighting scheme that's associated with sex and trouble. She's something Maddux should fear, as noted by her door creaking and the wind suddenly blowing when she opens it. There are even a few Halloween decorations that apparently stay up year round to add to the atmosphere of the "lousy little witch('s)" house.

The Hot Spot is not the kind of movie that's going to win awards. That it flopped at the box office almost insures that, but these days when you enter genres that aren't popular like westerns and noirs, unless you have a lot of star power the film probably won't be that successful even if it's excellent. If you want to take The Hot Spot at it's most basic level, which the average moviegoer might be tempted to do, it's a sex and crime movie with an old cliched storyline, but if you've made it this far than obviously you don't want to. What makes an entry into any genre good is understanding the cliches and knowing how to work them, manipulate them. The Hot Spot really succeeds here, and it's got the technique, performances, writing, and pacing to take it to the next level.

http://www.metalasylum.com/ragingbull/movies/hotspot.html

"Very strongly recommended reading for students of Japanese cultural history and the martial arts, Bushido: The Soul of Japan is a powerful presentation and a moving book with ideas as relevant today as they were 100 years ago." -Midwest Book Review

A century ago, when Japan was transforming itself from an isolated feudal society into a modern nation, a Japanese educator queried about the ethos of his people composed this seminal work, which with his numerous other writings in English made him the best, known Japanese writer in the West during his lifetime.

He found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control. His approach to his task was eclectic and far-reaching. On the one hand, he delved into the indigenous traditions, into Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and the moral guidelines handed down over hundreds of years by Japan's samurai and sages. On the other hand, he sought similarities and contrasts by citing not only Western philosophers and statesmen, but also the shapers of European and American thought and civilization going back to the Romans, the Greeks and Biblical times.

This book is a classic to which generations of scholars and laymen alike have long referred for insights into the character of the Japanese people. And all of its many readers in the past have been amply rewarded, as will be all those who turn to its pages in the next and future decades.



Bushido the Soul of Japan    

Mozart's Magic Flute, Magick & Masonry
by Lon Milo DuQuette

June 5, 2008, 9:17 pm
Back in 2002 I was asked to give the pre-performance lecture at the Los Angeles Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavillion for the opening night of Placido Domingo's staging of Mozazt's opera, The Magic Flute. I titled the talk "The Magic Flute, Magick and Masonry."

Tonight, as part of our year long celebration or our 40th wedding anniversary, Constance and I are attending the Opera Pacific's preformance of the Magick Flute. I thought some of you might enjoy reading the text of my 2002 talk. (Please remember that this was for an audience of mostly UNmagical people so the lecture is pretty EXOteric.) Hope you enjoy.

The Magic Flute

Magick and Masonry

A pre-performance address

by

Lon Milo DuQuette

Opening night of the Los Angeles Opera's presentation of

DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE

Plácido Domingo, Artistic Director

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Music Center

March 24, 2002

Copyright © 2002 Lon Milo DuQuette
All rights reserved.

[In Lon's best movie trailer voice]

In a world…where your mother is a homicidal Moon Goddess…

And your father is a Sun Worshipping Cult Leader,

Your only protection just may be a very confused Prince with a flute….

And a guy dressed up like a bird…with a glockenspiel !

I'm Lon DuQuette. I'm very proud to say I'm a Mason. My father was a Mason. My brother is a Mason. Many of the men whose lives and works have inspired, enlightened and encouraged me throughout my life have been Masons.

Masonry is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) secular fraternities in the world. It traces its modern origin to 1717 when a grand lodge was formed from several existing lodges in London. Just how long those lodges had been in existence prior to 1717 is unclear. There are some one hundred and thirty versions of Masonic documents known as the Old Charges that date from around 1390 – but Masonic tradition would have us trace its origins back much farther -- back to the medieval cathedral builder's trade unions --back to the Dionysian Artificers who built the great civic monuments of the Roman Empire – back to the builders of King Solomon's temple -- even to the craftsmen who built the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

Of course, there is no real evidence to support the existence of a prehistoric INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PYRAMID BUILDERS (LOCAL 327).

But, even if none of the traditional histories of the Craft can stand the scrutiny of historians, it is clear that Freemasonry, as an initiatory society, is an incarnation of (if not the heir to) the great mystery schools of antiquity -- especially those that flourished in and around the Mediterranean basin - the Eleusinians, the rites of Mendes, of Osiris, Isis, Dionysus, Serapis, Mithras, and the Persian Magi, from whence we get the word Magic.

The Mystery Schools taught that, ultimately, the true essence of each man and woman is divine … in fact, if ever we could come to the full realization of our true natures we would discover we are one and the same with the supreme consciousness and life-force of the universe.

Among the various Mystery rites, the name and symbolic character of the deity chosen to represent this supreme consciousness varied considerably – but they all had one very important thing in common. They all surmised that it is possible to consciously raise oneself to supreme realization -- and they attempted to assist this evolutionary process by degrees – by means of a step-by-step program of purification and instruction. And by literally mutating the candidate's character by putting him or her through a series of dramatic and artfully choreographed personal ordeals.

In the early years of the Christian era, Alexandria Egypt was center of the intellectual, philosophical, and initiatory world. The universal order and stability of the Roman Empire brought the world together as never before. For a brief and brilliant moment in time, knowledge and wisdom gleaned from scores of cultures from China and India to Egypt, Israel, Europe and Britain, synthesized within three great libraries. Here the holy wisdom of the Hebrew qabalah met the celestial sciences of the Chaldean Astronomers and the occult wisdom of the Egyptian priests of Isis. Here the subtleties of Taoist and Buddhist philosophies touched the mathematical sciences and pragmatic politics of the Greeks.

A catastrophic fire destroyed much of at least one of Alexandria's great libraries, and the growth and often violent zeal of the young Christian movement for all intents and purposes put an end to the overt activities of the Mystery schools. Carl Sagen speculated that, had the wealth of information stored in Alexandria not been destroyed -- the level of technology that placed a man on the moon in the 20th century would have been reached in the 1500s.

Be that as it may, we know there survived throughout the suffocating centuries of the Dark Ages, a body of men who, because of their unique knowledge and skills, formed a distinct class of world citizen. Men who could move freely from town to town, city to city, kingdom to kingdom --unrestricted by the limits of feudal servitude.

Masters of geometry and construction, who could make stone rise to heaven. Master artists who could enshrine the symbolic and mathematical secrets of creation within the very dimensions and ornaments of buildings that would stand for a thousand years.

These were Free-masons. Men who, by virtue of their own talents, wit, and experience, had freed themselves from the tyranny of Kings and the oppression of the Church.

The Freemason was the archetype for the modern, liberated human being.

Freemasons were quite literally …the coolest guys in the western world.

When the great cathedral projects ended, the fraternity evolved from being one that applied its mystical principals upon stone, to one that does so upon the hearts of human beings. By 1784, when Wolgang Amadeus Mozart became a Mason, the progressive Masonic ideals of Love, Tolerance, Enlightenment and Universal Brotherhood were poised to set Europe and America on fire with revolution.

Late in 1790 Mozart learned Masonry would soon be outlawed in Austria. He conspired with a Brother Mason, librettist and theatre owner, Emanuel Schikaneder, to enshrine the essence of Masonic ideals within a light-hearted (and seemingly innocuous) opera. That opera, of course, is The Magic Flute. And like all of Mozart's creations, it is constructed on many levels.

The first level is purely musical. By this point in Mozart's career he was famous for creating melodies that were not only beautiful to the ear, but memorable to the mind. Mozart wrote music you could hum and whistle. His musical logic is so clean and natural that the listener's ear anticipates each upcoming phrase as if the music is gushing spontaneously from our own mind. Mozart's audiences frequently became so instantly infected by these almost deja-vu melodies that they joined in with the principals on second and subsequent refrains.

The music of The Magic Flute is delightful, and I'm sure there was no doubt in Mozart's mind that once it was heard it would be impossible to erase it from the musical consciousness of the world.

The next level was that of contemporary comment. Several of the characters in The Magic Flute were quite recognizable caricatures of some of the most important and powerful people of the day.

The darkly passionate and vengeful Queen of the Night was the perfect image of Empress Maria Theresia whose opposition to the ideals of the Enlightenment and hatred for Masonry was well known.

Our hero, Tamino, was clearly based upon Emperor Joseph II, the son of Maria Theresia, who was not only a driving force of the Enlightenment, but also an early activist for equality between the classes and the sexes. Tamino's efforts, early in the opera, to please the Queen of the Night is a touching comment on the efforts of a royal son, who, in his youth, naturally made efforts to please his imperious mother.

And Sarastro, the Wise and Noble Hierophant of the Temple of Isis un Osiris, could only have been Vienna's most revered Grand Master of Masons, Ignaz von Born. Von Born was the most idealized example of the Enlightened man—humanitarian –scientist and teacher.

The next level is more esoteric and Masonic; and here we ask, does The Magic Flute actually reveal Masonic "Secrets?"

Technically….No.

Masonic secrets concern themselves primarily with the clap-trap of the fraternity -- the signs of recognition…the hand shakes…passwords…and, of course, the details of the dramatic ceremonies of initiation. There are very few aspects of The Magic Flute that would worry any Mason who actually knows what is (and what is not) secret in the Craft.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, also a free-mason, said of The Magic Flute;

"It is enough that the crowd would find pleasure in seeing the spectacle; at the same time, its high significance will not escape the initiates."

In the time we have left before we enjoy tonight's performance, I'd like to highlight just a few of those elements of "high significance" that do not escape initiates.

Let's begin by observing Mozart's use of the number 3. The number 3 is, for a number of reasons, a highly significant number to Masons. The overture of The Magic Flute exploits quite dramatically three chords sounded in batteries of three. These same three chords are sounded in the Temple scenes. As we will soon see, there are three Temples, three doors, 3 attendants to the Queen of the Night, three guiding angels, and three rounds of voting. Brother Mozart even wrote The Magic Flute in E flat—a key that contains three flats in the key signature.

While these are interesting tidbits, they are hardly veil-rending expositions of Masonic secrets. In the Temple scenes, however, we will see the suggestions of many elements of secret Masonic procedure; from the way the brotherhood admits the candidate and votes upon his admission, to the various tests of fidelity, silence and secrecy – most especially, the ordeal of initiation itself.

Peeling back yet another layer of esoteric secrets, we discover that Brothers Mozart and Schikaneder incorporated key elements of the Hebrew Qabalah within the characters and plot of their opera. We must remember that mystical sciences such as Qabalah, Alchemy, and ceremonial magic were subjects of intense fascination to many Masons of 18th century, and it is not at all surprising that these two Masons-with-a-mission would want to load their masterpiece with the biggest mystical punch they could.

A fundamental concept of the Qabalah divides creation and the human soul into four levels. These four levels correspond to the four letters of the Great Name of God, which in Hebrew is spelled Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh, (Most of the non-Jewish world pronounces this Jehovah.) The dynamics that exist between and among all things represented by these four sacred letters is the focus of Qabalistic study and meditation. But if we were to simply personify Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh as family, they would have the characteristics of a Father, Mother, Son, & Daughter. If we thought of them as royalty they would be a King, Queen, Prince, & Princess.

The Qabalistic scenario goes something like this: If each of us really knew our true spiritual identity we would realize that we were like a King….a King who is the most-awake Being of all. But, for some reason, we have chosen to fall asleep. The King has fallen asleep and is dreaming he is the Queen of the Universe, who has fallen asleep and is dreaming she is the Prince of the Universe, who has fallen asleep and is dreaming he is a sleeping Princess.

Unenlightened humanity is just like Sleeping Beauty. We are dead to the greater reality and have completely forgotten our divine birthright. We are asleep to our true spiritual nature and are dreaming that we are trapped in a tomb of matter, and time and space. (this is just the position Princess Tamina finds herself in the first Act of the Magic Flute.)

There is part of us, however, that is not so deeply asleep, a part of us that remembers there is something more. This more-awake self is our own Prince Charming. If only he could kiss our Sleeping Beauty and break the spell of illusion, then the Princess could marry the Prince and become the even-more-awake Queen, and by doing so the Prince will automatically be elevated to become the most-awake King.

The great secret to this Qabalistic soap-opera is, of course, the Zen-like revelation that each one of us has been the most-awake King all along.

I know this sounds hopelessly mystical and abstract -- because it is hopelessly mystical and abstract. It is also is the hidden scaffolding that supports and sustains the Western spiritual tradition --- and, as such, it is naturally the plot and a sub plot of The Magic Flute.

We have King Sarastro, the Queen of the Night, Prince Tamino, and Princess Pamina – and on a lower level we have Papagano and Papagana who in their own more mundane universe play prince and princess to Tamino and Pamina.

The most esoteric statement made by The Magic Flute, however, was one that shocked even the free-thinking Masons of Vienna – and proves Mozart to be a revolutionary even within a revolutionary society, and a visionary mystic among mystics.

Despite several charming and (by modern standards) incredibly incorrect ditties about the nature of woman in earlier scenes, the opera climaxes with the duel initiation of Tamino and Pamina – a surprise ending that was very unsettling to many in the all-male Masonic fraternity.

To initiates this is more than just a social comment upon the equality of the sexes. It is a bold and visionary statement that touches upon the very dynamics of humanity's evolving consciousness.

At the beginning of the opera we meet the awesome and beautiful Queen of the Night enthroned upon the moon. She represents a time in human history when woman was the supreme mystery. An innocent but primitive age when life appeared to spring directly from woman, and was linked to the cycles of the moon. This was the time of the great goddess and matriarchal social and religious institutions.

As human consciousness evolved we began to recognize how important the sun was to life on earth, and the importance of the man's contribution to the procreative process. The pendulum swung violently in the opposite direction. PatriarchiesThis is the source of the vengeful hatred that the Lunar Queen of the Night feels for Sarastro and his sun-worshipping order. supplanted matriarchies, and the Great Goddess was overthrown and ruthlessly subjugated by male gods.

Mozart envisioned the next step in human consciousness, when equality and balance between the sexes is achieved – when the Moon and the Sun are no longer at war but united to bring a new light to the world.

Initiation means "a beginning." Pamina and Tamino's initiation at the end of The Magic Flute represents Mozart's sweetest hope that a new and wonderful age was at hand. An age in which the Masonic ideals of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth would manifest in the hearts of all humanity.

An age when, as the 3 Guiding Angels sing;

"…All doubts will disappear,
when only the wise will rule…
Oh heavenly peace, return to us, and fill the hearts of all.
Then the earth will a heaven seem…
And mortals will have godly esteem"

Well…It's almost time for the opera to begin. We are very lucky people. A wonderful – delightful - and magical initiation awaits us just inside the great doors of the temple of music; an initiation we can experience simply by seeing, hearing, and enjoying. The Ritual team is almost ready. Maestro Foster and Sir Peter Hall will serve tonight as Junior and Senior Wardens, and the Worshipful Master in the East will be none other than the immortal spirit of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Thank you very much. Enjoy your evening.


Magick Mozart 1

...um..and the GD? And the OTO? And the Mysteries? Grab that Personal Guardian Angel, pull up a sit (or maybe a seat) and find the Tao (bit fucking clumsy of you to have lost the Dao in first place mind).