Monday, September 18, 2006

09/18/06

9:20 AM

I grew up in the 70’s watching all the funky TV shows everybody else watched: Get Smart, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Wild Wild West, The Thunderbirds, The Banana Splits, My Mother The Car, Batman, The Green Hornet, etc…

However, there were some practically unknown shows that, however crappy they might have been, I loved to death… Come to think of it, these obscure shows are my fondest childhood TV memories…


Captain Nice – In the US, this show only ran for a season back in 1967, the year I was born. Still, in Costa Rica, we enjoyed the reruns over and over until the mid-70’s… It’s about a chemist cop who discovers a formula that brings him superpowers… When I was little, I used to drink the liquid that came with cocktail onions and pretend that it was the formula that transformed me into Captain Nice…




The Kids from C.A.P.E.R. – Ah the Civilian Authority for the Protection of Everyone, Regardless… this show also ran for a single season in the US, but, here, we also saw the reruns over and over (do you see a pattern here?)… I loved this funky show and the theme song is still stuck on my head… “We’re the Kids, we’re the Kids, we’re the Kids from CAPER, we'll race to your place, on the case, every time”



Sigmund and the Sea Monsters – I loved the wacky world of Sid & Marty Krofft… and Seigmund was the Krofft brothers at the wackiest best… Because he refused to scare humans, Sigmund the Sea Monster's family harassed him to the point where he was forced to leave his home and wander the beaches alone. He was found and befriended by two brothers, Johnny and Scott who took him back home to live in their clubhouse.



The Red Hand Gang – Another one season flop that enjoyed moderate success down here. Solving crimes and having fun, the Red Hand Gang was a group of five pre-teens from the inner city and their dog. Frankie was the oldest and the unofficial leader, with J.R. was the athletic one, Doc was the smart one, Joanne was the tomboy, and Frankie's younger brother, Lil Bill, was the the junior member. Their adventures included catching a gang of kidnappers, preventing a jewel heist, and foiling a museum robbery.

Ultra 7 – I never cared for Godzilla… However, Godzilla was not the only Japanese show about large monsters that walked around destroying Tokyo… Instead, the “ultra” shows – Ultraman, Ultra 7 and Ultra Q – had equally large superheroes that could battle the large monsters in their own terms… All these shows were all pretty much alike, but Ultraman was by far the most popular character... However, always rooting for the underdog, my fave was Ultra 7.



Miss Comet (Kometto San) – Miss Comet was kind of a Japanese Mary Poppins... Having misbehaved in her home planet, Comet is sentenced to come to Earth and become a magical nanny for two upper class children - Takeshi & Koji - under the supervision of a Jiminy Cricket-like cartoon character known as "The Professor".



Titanes En El Ring – Years before the WWF ever became popular, there was Argentine Wrestling… Titanes was the coolest thing ever and featured wacky wrestlers such as Hippy Jimmy, Yolanka the Alien, The Red Knight, The Mummy, Pepino the Clown, and world-champion Martin Karadagian.

And…

Musica Libre – This was a funky show where a troupe of Chilean dancers performed interpretative dancing to pop songs, such as You’re Sixteen (Ringo Starr), Rock the Boat (Hues Corporation), Jet (Wings) and Seasons in the Sun (Terry Jacks). Hosted by Nelson Hoffmann, who later immigrated to Costa Rica, this show introduced me to a lot of rock music I love today.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

09/06/06

7:44 AM

Today, I want to share with you all an excerpt from a wonderful column by Robert Burney, which illustrates the paradigm shift that has taken place in my life in the last few weeks.

Codependence and interdependence are two very different dynamics.

Codependence is about giving away power over our self-esteem. Taking our self-definition and self-worth from outside or external sources is dysfunctional because it causes us to give power over how we feel about ourselves to people and forces which we cannot control. Any time that we give power over our self-esteem to something outside of ourselves we are making that person or thing our higher power. We are worshiping false gods.

If my self-esteem is based on people, places, and things; money, property, and prestige; looks, talent, intelligence; then I am set up to be a victim. People will not always do what I want them too; property can be destroyed by an earthquake or flood or fire; money can disappear in a stock market crash or bad investment; looks change as I get older. Everything changes. All outside or external conditions are temporary.

The more we can start owning the Truth of who we really are and integrating it into our relationship with ourselves, the more we can enjoy this human experience that we are having. Then we can start learning how to be interdependent - how to give power away in conscious, healthy ways because our self-worth is no longer dependent on outside sources.

Interdependence is about making allies, forming partnerships. It is about forming connections with other beings. Interdependence means that we give someone else some power over our welfare and our feelings.

Anytime we care about somebody or something we give away some power over our feelings. It is impossible to Love without giving away some power. When we choose to Love someone (or thing - a pet, a car, anything) we are giving them the power to make us happy - we cannot do that without also giving them the power to hurt us or cause us to feel angry or scared.

In order to live we need to be interdependent. We cannot participate in life without giving away some power over our feelings and our welfare. I am not talking here just about people. If we put money in a bank we are giving some power over our feelings and welfare to that bank. If we live in society we have to be interdependent to some extent and give some power away. The key is to be conscious in our choices and own responsibility for the consequences.

As we develop healthy self-esteem based on knowing that the Force is with us and Loves us, then we can consciously take the risk of Loving, of being interdependent, without buying into the belief that the behavior of others determines our self-worth. We will have feelings - we will get hurt, we will be scared, we will get angry - because those feelings are an unavoidable part of life. Feelings are a part of the human experience that we came here to learn about - they cannot be avoided. And trying to avoid them only causes us to miss out on the Joy and Love and happiness that can also be a part of the human experience.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

09/05/06

2:33 PM

A co-worker lent me a DVD of AFI's 100 years, 100 movies...

In 1998, The American Film Institute invited 1500 screenwriters, directors, actors, producers, cinematographers, editors, executives, film historians and critics to select the 100 American movies ever made in the first 100 years of American cinema (1896 - 1996). Films released after 1996 were not included.

For the last 11 years, I have watched an average of 185 films per year...
However, I have only seen 57% of the films in this list.
In other words, I have never seen 43 of the 100 best American movies ever made.

This simply won't do!

I need to correct this situation once and for all...
Especially since 11 of the films I have never seen are in the top 30
So, I got my work cut out for me...
I vow right here and now to watch the following films in the next few weeks:

Lawrence of Arabia, On the Waterfront, Sunset Boulevard, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Some Like it Hot, All About Eve, The African Queen, Chinatown, Bonnie & Clyde, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington & The Treasure of Sierra Madre.

I'll post my progress on this blog...
Check back often to see how this project is going.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

09/03/06

9:35 PM

Today I had a whoppin' lunch...
In fact, it was so large I am still full...

We went down to TGIF...
We started off with some Buffalo Wings...
The Blue Cheese sauce was a little light...
I think they must have thin it out with cream cheese or something...
But still... the wings were nice and spicy...
And really hit the spot...

Then, I had a rockin' slab of juicy and tender ribs
Really smothered in a smokey BBQ sauce...
That was really somethin', dude!
Usually you don't get that kind of BBQ down here...
Ahhh... and I almost forget
I washed it down with a jug of Cuervo Gold...

Que cruda mas guey, mano!

However, wolfing down ribs me think about stereotypes...
Stereotypes? Yep, stereotypes...
Allow me to explain...

My sauce covered fingers made me think that
I just can not picture a gay guy devouring
hot-rockin', ass-kickin', gun-shootin' BBQ ribs...
or spicy Buffalo Wings for that matter...

Yeah... I know it's just a stereotype...
and I wouldn't even know what gay food would be...
Maybe pomegranate glazed quail salad
with orange vinaigrette and pecans
And a glass of blush wine...
How the hell would I know?

And why am I even thinking about this?
Gosh... I think a refresher course
At that cultural sensitivity seminar... urgh!
Or maybe I'm just still drunk...

Just ignore me today...

Saturday, September 02, 2006

09/02/06

7:35 PM

It's been quite a long week...

I have been swamped at work...
We're launching a new program
And I have a lot of work backed up...
I guess I'm finally paying the price
for all the goofing off of the last few weeks
Well, can't complain really...
'Cause every little second was well worth it... je je je

There's something in this house...
Every night, when I come home from work...
I start coughing and coughing...
And I usually cough all through the night...
But the moment I leave in the morning
I stop coughing..
And I don't cough anymore -not once-
Until I get home again in the evening...
Things that make you go hmmm...

We went back to Cinnabon today...
And they screwed up my order real bad...
I was pissed... and I looked pissed too...
In fact, the manager came out to apologize
and brought us a free classic Cinnamon Roll...
Cool!... I'm a happy camper here!
Guess it doesn't take much
To make me a happy camper after all...

Well, gotta go back to work
I'm working on a translation for E&Y tonight...
And I just finished watching Superman Returns...
Better than I expected, but not as good as Batman Begins...
I hear there are Green Lantern, Captain America and Iron Man
movies already in pre-production...
And that the Fantastic Four 2: The Rise of the Silver Surfer
is almost nearly done... how exciting
This leaves only one more question to ask...
When will we ever see an Underdog Movie?



Never fear for Underdog is here...