Two Philosophies- or Why People Say I think too Much.

I have been waiting a long while for this clip to be posted on.

It's one of the most philosophically significant moments in the film.

What the Joker expresses is a view of humanity that reminded me of Sigmund Freud.
Freud believed that when people were put in a desperate situation the masks they
wear would come off and the face's underneath would all be identical. They would collapse into a brutal state.

A Dr. Victor Frankel was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps.
And he witnessed people in a desperate environment and the mask's
did indeed come off. But he reported that the faces were all different.
Some folks who were some nice regular people before entering the camps
turned into "pigs" and others who were pigs behaved like saints.

And it's these two views that are represented in the film.
One character it doing what he can to bring about "chaos". and the other
has the goal of providing the peoples with a vision of hope to inspire them
into not being afraid.
Remember the last words of the father to the son in "Bat Man Begins"? "Don't be afraid."


I transcribed a short section from the dialogue.
And though I disagree with his vision of humanity I do agree with
his observation about "plans". When SOME things go wrong, people
are more likely to panic if it is outside there usual routine.
But when "a truck load of solders gets killed", few seem to get that upset.

As evidence for this opinion I have posted another vid from something
most of us are exposed to every day.
What do you think the "plans" of the two apposing views have?


" Do I really look like a guy with a plan?
Do you know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars.
I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it..
No, I just do things.
The mobs got plans, the cops got plans, Gordon's got plans.
Ya know: there scheemers. Scheemers trying to control
there little worlds. I'm not a scheemer.
I try to show the scheemers how pathetic there attempts
to controll things really are....

It's the scheemers who put you where you are.
I took your little plans and turned it on itself.
Look what I've done with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets.

You know what noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan.
Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press like a gang banger or a truck load of solders get blown up no body panics, because it's all part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die, then suddenly every one looses there minds!
Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos.
And and you know the thing about chaos? It's fear."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRG1tWQN6e8


FROM MEDIA CHANNEL DOT ORG
Montel Williams Loses Job after Defending Troops on Fox News
By Daily Kos.
For just over three minutes on Saturday morning, TV talk show host Montel Williams owned the hosts of Fox and Friends. A former Marine and Naval officer, Montel lectured the stunned hosts on the stupidity of spending air time on the death of Heath Ledger, rather than covering the war in Iraq. It was a spectacle rarely seen on live cable television, as Montel exposed and condemned both tabloid "news" shows and much of American culture for what they have each become: shallow and greedy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IYyNAXjxS4

Three minutes into this awkward segment on Fox, one host cut off Montel in order to go to a commercial. Montel did not return after the break. Four days later, after 17 years as a television host, Montel lost his job. Variety reported on Wednesday that the Fate of "The Montel Williams Show" was sealed when key Fox-owned stations opted not to renew it for the 2008-09 season.I have no idea whether Montel already knew his show wasn't going to be renewed, and thus felt emboldened to cut loose on the air, or whether his firing was a result of his actions on Saturday. Either way, Montel Williams exhibited courage this week that few in the television industry ever will. And for that, American troops around the world stand with him. We support him not only because he stood up for the troops, but because he did it on Fox News—a station that has done more damage to the U.S. military since 9/11 than any other.Montel Williams is an American patriot. Though he left the military years ago, he has never forgotten "his" troops.
For that we salute and thank you, Montel. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do next.-- by Brandon Friedman
--
Pedro of New Jersey

On the Air and On-Line at
www.HearNewBrunswick.com
Sundays 2 till 4pm EST

www.WRSU.Org 88.7 fm
Tuesdays 2 till 4 PM EST

On Watching The Swearing in of Barak Hussain Obama.

Anti-climactic. It's the single word that described the swearing in of Barak Hussein Obama as 44th President of the United States of America.

That's not to say it didn't have it's highlights. I was waiting for him to say his name. "Barak Hussein Obama. I could almost feel the psychic atomic bomb go off. It's shock wave radiating outward till it had traveled to the other side of the planet.
That was nice.

But it just didn't match the effect of election night.

On the night of the election I watched the returns alone. When the outcome was announced it was with the image of President elect Obama walking down a runway towards the lectern.

Do you know the feeling of being aware that you're dreaming? "Hey! This is a dream. I can wake up when ever I want to." Well it wasn't anything like that.

It was like waking from a dream.
My earliest memory is waking from a dream.

I dreamed I was a little kid in the 1960's living in the Columbus Homes Housing Projects. When asked where we lived we answered "the projects."

In my dream there had been riots in the streets, cock roaches big enough to ride to school, and cheery blossoms in the spring.

I awoke on a bed.
Looking across the landscape of the blanket I was sleeping on I could see out the window the twelve story high, block long neighbor of a building across a court yard.
The dream I had was the dream of my life. But now it wasn't a dream any more. This was reality.

That was what I felt as I watched Barak Obama walking down that walkway.
It was like waking from a dream.

No ceremony was going to top that.




Rev. Pedro Angel Serrano

It wasn't a kick in the nuts!

Last Saturday (17th November 02009) I crashed at a friends house. His name is Richard and we'd seen each other at Punk Rock shows for a while. My reputation had preceded me and we bonded quickly.
Any way the next morning I couldn't find my keys.He apologized and said he'd look for them and call if they were found.
I headed to another friends place whers my back pack was for a quick breakfast. I suspected that my keys might be there. They were not. "This is not good."
I called Richard to see if he'd located my keys. He apologized again and said he'd not seen them. I told him there was no need to apologize. "Just give me a call if ya find em. I think they be on that book shelf next to the sofa bed."
Yesterday He gave me a call and said that he'd found them. He apologized yet again and said that when he cleared the table in front of the couch he'd taken the keys with everything else and oput them in his roommates room. "I'm sorry." I said "There's no need to Apologize! What matters is that ya found em."
I arrived that night to get my keys. The door opens and Richard had the clip with my keys in his hand. "I'm so sorry..."I cut him off.
"Shut Up and Stop apologizing!" He smiled and said, "Then fuck you for losing your keys."
I explained "There's nothing for you to apologize for. Stuff just happens. But if I were to walk up to you for a hug and you kicked me in the nuts, you'd better apologize."
Pedro of New Jersey.

Radio today at Noon

.

Noon till 2 pm EST.

http://www.wrsu.org

I have no idea what I'll be doing.
Sunday on http://www.HearNewBrunswick.Com


Woke up in the dark.
That's how Like it.
It's too bright at midnight in New Brunswick.
All cities when there's nothing going on after 2 pm.

Guess it's some obsession with "safety".

Walking the streets at nigh would feel less boring if the streets were as pitch black as the woods are: the sky crowded with stars.

Wait a minuet.
What was I...?
Oh yea. I like it dark when I sleep.

Crashed in a friends basement. Completely dark while I slept.
No street lamps making it possible to read a book in bed.
Had dreams with subterranean themes. Kinda scary one of em.
But yea, slept in a heated basement last night.
Liked it.

So good morning folks. Temp is just above freezing here.
Another cup of coffee, quick shower, a bite, and my radio show at noon.


.

When I watched the elections I watched them alone.Not by choice, but as the night progressed I was glad to be watching the results and watch the dignified high tech free coverage on PBS.Science is objective, people are not.But by being alone I was able to deal with my emotions and mine alone.For a week after the election I took time to put this moment in historical context. On November 28th of 02008 I wrote what you'll find below. This morning I did a rewrite before posting it on my BLOG. As I shut down my lap top an announcement on TV was made that President elect Barack Hussein Obama was about to make a speech. I still can't find a word to describe my feeling at the time. But I did feel an uncontrollable urge to share it with you all.



An historian names David McCullough, in a talk he gave ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A4Kti0iw3M ) said,"I make the argument that there is no such thing as the past." An Historian said that!The example he gave was that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson never said "Isn't it fascinating living in the past as we do? Don't we look quaint in our funny outfits?" lived in an eternal present. And in the present they had no idea how there revolution would turn out. And after victory and independence, they had no idea how long the republic would last. If lived long enough to see it survive they may have considered it a success.Like them have no idea what the future holds. There is only this eternal present I experience from moment to moment. But history can provide perspective. The path this nation and its people are on has been trod before. This became clear after reading an Inauguration speech. Not the one Barack Obama will be making January 20th. But one given when the United States seemed it was falling apart. Other countries were watching as the nation struggled over a savage depression.When F.D.R. was inaugurated one of the options given him was to suspend the Constitution and declare martial law. Instead he gave the first of his "Fire Side Chats", to inspire confidence in the banks and the future. Afterwards he got up and is quoted as saying, "I think it's time for some liquid refreshment." By that he meant the abolition of the amendment banning alcohol. He knew the citizens of the U.S. didn't need martial law. They needed a BEER! That ladies and gentle men is leadership!

There was another form of leadership he showed. Perhaps the most famous line from his inaugural speech is "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself..."That's the only line people seem to know. But it's what he says afterwards that matters. "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Reading it reminded me of the last descriptive words of the star spangled banner, "...the land of the free and the home of the brave." Roosevelt reminded the people of that in the first paragraph. His repeating theme; unity and courage. Unity and courage was the sentiment John McCain put forth in his concession speech. It was what Barack Obama as well. Unity and courage was what F.D.R. put forth as he started his first term. And what he said in "the past" sounds all too familiar to me in this eternal present.I do want to believe this is still, and always will be, The Home of the Brave. And I have made a personal pledge that any dickhead in the news media Adds to the climate of fear undermine that quality in any way will, if I should meet them on the street, get a steel toe attitude adjustment up his ass. Ummm... Sorry. Lost me eloquence for a second.Below is some of the home work I did since the election.In BOLD are the lines that to the moments I write this.

"United we stand, divided we fall."

Pedro Angel Serrano Below is of F.D.R's First Inaugural Address. I found it at http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/

==============

I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel... So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men. Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now. Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources. Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly. Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.There are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States. Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States—a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.
In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems. Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure. I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.

Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933, as published in Samuel Rosenman, ed., The Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Volume Two: The Year of Crisis, 1933 (New York: Random House, 1938), 11–16.http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/--

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Pedro of New Jersey
On the Air and On-Line athttp://www.hearnewbrunswick.com/
Sundays 2 till 4pm EST


http://www.wrsu.org/
88.7 fm Wednesdays Noon till 2pm



.
.

Always Homeward Bound.

So far so good. The 5Th of January and the year 02009 has been great!

Started early with the Bouncing Souls annual Christmas concerts "Home For The Holidays". Only this year with The Stone Pony having to make repairs on there roof, this year it was "Homeless For The Holidays."

No matter.
Walking into Convention Hall on the boardwalk of Asbury Park I felt as if I were entering the Palace of Punk!!! I walked ahead of the friends who gave me a ride down. Kinda rude I thought but I was anxious to get inside to see friends I may not have been with in many months.

The first was Ronin Kaufman. He had come to make a video for his Blog http://www. issueoriented. com/. The expression on his face was not a happy one. I'd been phoning him for months so as to interview him for my On-Line radio show on http://www.HearNewBrunswick.Com.

He immediately apologized as I put my arms around is bulky build. He's filled out over the decade from the kid I remember attending Rutgers U. in the 1990's.

I held on to him for a long while. When I let him go my eyes were over flowing with liquid macho.
Yes, The Skinheads of New Jersey call it "Liquid Macho."
I choked out a, "Yea, I'm fine. I'm just really glad to see you."
He asked me no less then three times.
I answered in various ways, "I'm just really glad to see you."

"It's just I've never seen you so crumbly before."
I've been in a weepy mood for months now. At first I just chalked it up to drinking to much soy milk. But the events of 02008 have had an effect I'm still trying to figure out.

The suicide of a good friend in May and less than five months later the suicide of my eldest nephew. It never gets easier.
So yea, I was really glad to see him. I've been really glad to see people most of last year.

The show was great of course. Every band shined. As Gas Light Anthem performed I had a cheese burger with fries to help counteract the effects of all that soy coursing through my gonads.

I got a few looks from those in attendance who I suspect recognized me from the Souls video documentary. As I write what comes to mind is for every one who gave me a hand shake, how many were to intimidated to walk up and say "Hi."
Bugs me a bit but in the past I could be a moody prick. But I appreciate it now. Celebrity and Punk just don't go together in my mind.

I kept running into my friend Joe Koukos who ran security and helped to set up the show. To busy to talk we finally got to catch up after about 97% of the crowd had made there way outside.
He's pretty much done with the concert biz. He had to fight like hell to get his crew to run the show. Convention Hall and a healthy chunk of the boardwalk itself is no longer a part of Asbury New Jersey. It's private property owned by a corporation. They wanted to have a security firm handle the show. Joe stood up for those guys with rent to pay and families to feed, out of work till The Stone Pony re-opened.

Every show went off with out a hitch!

Another perfect paragraph to the last chapter of his career as booking agent and promoter. He's opening up a music store. His description, "A refugee camp for the alternative and punk scene."

More on that in the future.

I wanted to say goodbye before heading out. Back stage were the Souls plus some old and new friends. My main target was Timmy Chunks. I'd not seen him in years!
After speaking to Bryan for a bit I asked him where Timmy might be.
With that smile of his he said, "He's right behind you."

Sure enough there he was.
We hug and I feel the liquid Macho welling up in my eyes again.
Not as much as with Ronin but I think he could see how I felt.

He updated me on his family. I on my spoken word and book projects.
An exchange of new phone numbers and it was time for me to head out.
Arrived at The Asbury Lanes for more hanging out. No alcohol for tonight.
Felt more then fine as I was.

This year I "turn" fifty years of age. Funny how it's refered to as "turning."
As if you become someone else with the passing of a date on the calender.

The photo above was taken on my 40th birthday.
Who was that guy? what's happened to him since?
How many happy memories does he look back on. How many tears has he shed?
How many new memories will he be working on in the next four seasons.

Is he growing older in spirit or just in years?

After the ride back to New Brunswick I said my goodbyes and headed to a friends place where I'm welcome to crash. Not literally my home but it feels like it when I walk in.

Now I'm reminded of a question Ronin was asking folks at the show. "What is home to you?"

My answer, "Home is anywhere. It's anywhere your friends are."

Yea, 02009 has been great so far. It's been spent with silence in the morning and friends in the evening.



Rev. Pedro Angel Serrano