Jack and me

--
David

How to Enjoy Losing

Most people hate losing. It's natural to our evolution. Ingrained in
our DNA is the equation anger = fear(loss). But what if when you lose,
you actually gain? Would you see it differently?

You actually learn much more when you lose than when you win. Each loss is a lesson. Winning is simply a confirmation of a lesson learned well.
But it takes some real brain strength to enjoy losing. In any place
anywhere, however, it's a secret to success.

When you are practicing life, find ways to lose. Lose frequently. Lose
hard. Learn well. Only do this in practice. That way when real-life
battles approach, you've learned all you can.

Consider this if you are ever a children's soccer coach. Chidhood is the perfect time to teach kids the right way to handle loss. Don't let your kids be sore losers! Yes, you want them to win, but teach them to see each loss as a lesson. Celebrate each loss too.

Confessions of An Economic Hitman

I can't help but recommend Confessions of an Economic Hitman. I know that it's shrouded in controversy and considered the work of a conspiracy theorist, but the dealings of the book make a lot of sense for why there's so much mala leche between South American countries and the United States.

Read the book! Let me know what you think.

Not only is the book interesting, it's written Graham Greene style—a hero of the author—always leaving you wanting more every chapter.

Darren Aronofsky movies The Fountain and Pi

I have my friend Joe to thank for turning me onto Darren Aronofsky
movies. I thoroughly enjoyed Aronosfsky's The Fountain and Pi. But
before you go off and rent these, it's best to prepare a little. The
movies are rich in mythological themes. I'll butcher these here.

The Fountain.

The Fountain's trailers (http://thefountainmovie.warnerbros.com/) will
tell you the movie's about a man named Tom (in three different ages,
as a warrior, scientist and astronaut) looking for a way to save his
queen, the woman he loves. He wants to conquer death for her. The
movie, however, is sooo much more.

The Tree of Life in the astronaut era is clearly taken from Norse
mythology Yggdrasil (the bubble around it gives it away). Yggdrasil
symbolizes the axis of the world; the tree is in the center of the
world. The World Tree had saved Líf and Lífthrasir, the only man and
woman to survive Ragnarok (the end of the world).

Tom in the movie fails to conquer death. Instead, what he finds is
rebirth in the same way Native Americans thought of rebirth, as well
as Christians. All throughout the Americas and other places around the
world there have been myths of a person who is killed so others would
live. This, somehow, is symbolized by food. Food represents the body.

The Iroquois tell a story about a man who dies, and out of his dead
body grows the first corn stalk. Whenever you eat corn, you eat of his
body.

Another Native American tribe uses a similar story to justify killing
of a buffalo. A father is killed by the buffalo; his daughter
resurrects him with song; the buffalo asks the daughter to sing the
song for any dead buffalo. They tell her they will willingly come to
be slaughtered if she'll sing the song to resurrect them. She does.
The tribe sings when they kill buffalo; this makes it ok to kill them.
It's a way of thanking the buffalo for their sacrifice. (Joseph Campbell tells it much better than I do.)

The Maya also have a Tree of Life sacrifice as portrayed in the movie.
They also believe the gods are the Milky Way, exactly where the
astronaut is heading. The astronaut eats of the tree to live. He and
the tree are really one.

Egyptians have Osiris. He was killed, thrown in the river Nile, and
when his sarcophagus came ashore a great tree grew around and
completely enveloped the tree.

And, of course, Christians believe in a God killed on a tree, who was
then resurrected. Think of the sacrament.

So what is "The Fountain." The very thing Tom is trying to conquer
(death), is in fact the fountain of life. He finds the tree of life,
he drinks from it, and what happens? I'll let you watch the movie.

Suffice to say, when I'm buried, I want a tree to be planted on top of me.

Pi.

Pi is about a number (3.14141414...) and a pattern that a
mathematician is trying to find—the pattern that describes life. Lots
of headaches trying to get to it.

He finds the pattern, but when his computer tries to print it out,
it's unraveled by its own make-up. The pattern unravels. And what does
it create? It creates life through spiralling upward from the
beginning of its pattern. The pattern of "chaos." The pattern of the
transcendent being. The pattern of the Torah.

And the pattern serves as a predictor. It can predict anything. What
is the spiral then? The spiral represents a brain, the make-up, the
DNA, all life. But that means it can also predict the stock market,
the way to beat a person in Go, chess, whatever. The main character
looks at a shell with a spiral. The spiral is in the Milky Way
(similar to The Fountain).

Pi includes many ideas of Dan Winter, founder of the San Graal School
for Sacred Geometry. According to the Internet, the guy's obsessed
with the Holy Grail, chaos theory, DNA, aliens, etc. Used to work for
IBM. He's a Celestine Prophecy guy. We know where that ends up (at
Machu Picchu and disappearing).

Dan believes people should not live in metal houses or they'll die
sooner; people should live in Mother Nature (See interview here
http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/articles/A_Blissful_Interview_with_DAN_WINTER.htm).
Weird guy.

So there you go. Neat movies. Neat ideas. Enjoy!

CéU

Have you downloaded a CéU album yet? I love her music. http://www.ceumusic.com/

David

Zoroastrianism is Dying

Before there was Christianity and Islam, there was the ancient religion created by the prophet Zoroaster. I never knew about it. I didn't grow up learning about it. But the religion's ideas had forever changed the Western world; we all owe the popular idea of good God versus evil demon to this religion. Now the religion is dying.

It's called Zoroastrianism. The prophet Zoroaster had a vision that led an entire people off of ancient Buddhism.

Ancient Buddhism believed the earth had pleasure and suffering. The only way to enlightenment was to separate yourself, to reach nirvana. Meditate and don't cause suffering. Also, don't have any pleasure. Barely anyone could do this.

In Zoroaster's vision there was Arhura Mazda (meaning "Light"). Mazda was a particular God (among many) that loved the human race. So humans worshipped him. After all, anything good that happened came from Mazda. Anything bad, by other gods. The only way to be saved was through Mazda. Do the things that helped Mazda bring pleasure to people. Die and go to a lovely place. Do the things that cause suffering and be destroyed.

In Joseph Campbell words, Mazda was the personification of everything good. His jealous rival Angra Mainyu was the personification of all evil.

The Egyptians jumped on the Zoroastrian idea of having an afterlife, plus Good gods and Bad gods. This is clear in the Isis/Osiris/Horus myth.

And Islam and Christianity were born from it. Christianity, in fact, was a result of merging ideas of Judaism, Zoraster, Egyptian and pagan myths all together to create one. Before Mohammed, Iranians all worshipped Mazda. But the idea is basically the same. You have to get to heaven through a representative of Good.

Judaism evolved from Zoroastrian ideas too. In ancient Judaism, according to Anthony Mercatante, God created both pleasure and suffering, good and bad. You thanked God for the good and if you suffered, it's because God willed it. The chosen people are saved at the end. Later Judaism was changed. God only creates good things now, not bad. The devil does bad; he causes suffering. Ancient judaism would've never given the devil such power.

But there are few Zoroastrians left. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. The religion's law of not allowing converts has led to its doom. Some Zoroastrians are trying to change the law. Eventually, maybe it will change. But nonetheless, we mustn't forget this ancient religion.

Kids back tomorrow

I miss my kids a lot; they're coming back tomorrow. So today, it's up to me to get the house ready and go buy a fish (Kelsea's beta died while she was away; my fault). Can't wait to see them. I'll take pictures Saturday.

moby's post

I totally agree with moby's June 8 post. There's a ton of media attention directed on global warming, the environment, etc. But hardly any in the U.S. is about one of the world's main pollutants: livestock. Just by dropping our meat consumption by 10%-20%, heart disease could cease to be the No. 1 killer in America, we'd save a ton of rain forest, we'd save a ton of water, and we'd free enough grain to feed all the people in all third-world countries. Eat less meat, for your health and the world.

Thanks moby, for being a sane voice this week (it's not always sane).

Joseph Campbell's Mythic Reflections

Mythic Reflections is famous for being one of the times when Joseph Campbell openly criticized the Bible in an interview with Tom Collins saying it was "tribally circumscribed mythology," which meant that it directly claims one tribe to be better than all others. One tribe has a God who loves them; no one else does.

Then, when Collins annoyingly tries to get Campbell to try to reconcile the Bible's "seven-day creation" with evolution, Campbell dismisses the discussion as being as useless as trying to reconcile evolution with the Navajo creation myth.

On these points, a lot of people dismiss this interview and miss the wisdom in it.

This interview was hugely moving for me, however. Not because of the above, but because of why Campbell's explanation. He talks of a "transcendent energy" all humans feel. He explains that humans come up with Gods as a way of personifying that transcendent energy so we can actually talk about transcendent elements. What a concept! What a way to explain why there's a mythology for every culture.

I took something else away from this interview. I stopped being a theologian; I quit looking for answers in scripture and started being a mystic. I decided to listen to my inner-core spirit a little more. Staying away from doctrine, what are my morals? What does this transcendent energy tell me is right and wrong?

Let me know what you think of the interview.

Uruguay should've beat Brazil

Uruguay was better than Brazil today... I hate penalty kicks.

Bitty Headache

My head hurts a bit. Kinda like it wants to fall down on a pillow, but once it's there, it gets bored and I pop it back up to type some more.

This helps.

Kids flew to Idaho

Aster, Kelsea and Torie flew with their grandparents to Idaho today. It was the first time aboard a plane for Kelsea and Torie. Torie said, "It wasn't scary at all. The cars were sooo little. When we landed, it was like we were in another world. We went through lots of clouds. Daddy, are clouds really made out of water? Wow. I guess the plane must've gotten really wet."

F. Molina Campos

Patricia and I are looking through Florencio Molina Campos paintings of the vida campestre. Campos captures the life of my Argentine gaucho ancestry in a delightful way.

Pigeons pooped on the kids today

We went to the park in Mesa to go birdwatching. We spotted a male and female great-tailed grackles, a bewick's wren, a male house sparrow, mallard ducks, and plenty of rock pigeons. Aster, Kelsea and Torie layed hesitantly on the lawn and placed bread crumbs on top of themselves. The gluttonous pigeons happily took the feast and happily rewarded the kids with pecking, scratches, and stains on their clothes.

The kids had a great time. We had to get out of the house because (after plenty of procrastination) we finally had a carpet cleaner come out to remove marker, glue, paint and Lucy markings from our carpet. It took a heap of chemicals.

Dinosaur Letter

Aster got a letter (he wrote to himself) from his dinosaur friend and it goes like this:

Dear Boy,

I had a great time at the party with all of those delicious elk. I would've liked it more if you were on the menu. You should have tricked some of those plant-eating dinos to come. There weren't too many raptors at the party. I hope you didn't mind all the bones and blood everywhere. The deer were a good snack. Tyrannosaurus ate most of the food.

Your prehistoric friend,
Raptor

Kelsea at the Top of Her Class

I'm a proud daddy today. The school year's ending and I just received a call from Mrs. Polillo—Kelsea's third-grade teacher—to tell me that Kelsea (yes, my daughter) has earned the most Accelerated Reader points in her class. What are AR points? AR points are how elementary school teachers test reading proficiency.

I'm actually not at all surprised by this news. How many nine-year-olds are thrilled to go on a trip to Barnes and Noble? One time when we went, I bought Kelsea a hot chocolate and she got halfway through a junior version of The Secret Garden. She read 80 pages that night! I'm not surprised. But I'm sure proud. (Did I mention I was proud?)

David and Patricia in Paris

After climbing the Eiffel Tower, feet hurting...


March 14, 2007—Our first day in Paris was most memorable. We tried to save money by avoiding any taxi and hauled our two suitcases, a backpack, my laptop bag and Patricia’s purse into the Metro. We switched trains at the Nation, mistakenly went to Marie Montrieulle, where we lifted our luggage up the stairs to Paris’s famous cobblestone streets only to find there weren't any; we weren't in wasn’t downtown Paris at all, and had to dragg our luggage back down the steps again. We backtracked to where we should have been, the Port de Montrieulle.

Besides the immigrants, almost everyone in Paris knows Spanish, English or both. The locals are educated and extremely helpful—except for the Marie/Port mix-up, we never were lost once on our Paris trip—not at all what I’d expected.

Our hotel attendants weren’t ready for us and we were told to wait “15 minutes” for our room, which really turned out to be 45. Patricia and I were exhausted. So, as we waited, we sat in the hallway, and I fell asleep on Pato’s leg. I woke up when the cleaning lady—an African immigrant woman who spoke only French (that I know of)—explained something to us, which sounded like an apology, and pointed out that our room was ready.

We made ourselves at home in a small, multi-color room—half of a normal-sized bedroom. The bathroom was too small, with just barely enough room to sit on the toilet, sideways. I was just glad to feel hot water coming out of the tub faucet, which was also small. If I’d been any larger, I would not have fit in it. I fell asleep in that tub.

We left our things and took the Metro to the Louvre. It was five o’clock. One more hour and we’d have a discount to the museum. To kill time 'til five, we strolled through the Jardin de Tulieres, stopped and bought an expensive cup of hot chocolate—four Euros for a few drops—and a Toscane pasta salad. We needed something to keep us awake.

Either the chocolate or the excitement of the Louvre did the trick, because we walked briskly for three hours and 45 minutes through the museum. I was in heaven. We picked up a Da Vinci Code audio guide that led us through Robert Langdon’s adventure. It also offered great insights into the Mona Lisa, Madonna on the Rocks and many others.
We saw Italian/French art, the Venus da Silo, and plenty of Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Egyptian and Arab sculptures. In fact, we saw just about everything, all in less than four hours. It takes most people days. But they probably stop and actually look at each work for more than a minute or two.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped for a bite at an Arab’s panini/pizza joint. He knew English, but preferred Spanish. We asked him his price and he said, “First, where are you from?” I lied, “Argentina.” He decided to serve us a couple of decent paninis.

March 15, 2007—A crazy beggar woman gave me a gawdy ring "for me," and promptly wanted payment for it. We climbed the Eiffel Tower, cruised down La Seine on a riverboat, and saw Notre Dame. Our feet were sore. We also accidentally went into a very non-vegetarian French restaurant with dead animals mounted all over the walls, which we left. We had some good French onion soup and some bad cheese fondue. Moulin Rouge, Latin Quarter and we arrived back to the hotel to find the place crowded with Italian students.

March 16, 2007—Notre Dame, St. Sulpice and saw the Rose Line, visited my first Midieval Castle to see Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, a walk down L’Odeon (Ernest Hemingway’s place where threw something because he read a bad review), Jardin de Luxembourg, Musee Odin and The Thinker, Sacre Coeur with a view of all Paris and a bunch of hippies, place de Tartre where artists wanted to paint our picture, pretty walk down through red light district, good food at a small restaurant (I had a ravioli/omelette/cheese, Patricia had onion soup/trout/caramel crème, which was really flan) and a couple of Slovaks pitched us a vacation to Slovakia (15E a night), Eiffel tower lit up at night, followed a bunch of Americans to the Trecadore, found the Metro, went home to bed.

March 17, 2007 St. Patrick's Day—Went to the cemetery to see Jim Morrison’s, Oscar Wilde’s and Michel Proust’s tombs. I had to go to the bathroom (really bad), so I ran out of the cemetery and found a small bar, which saved my life. But when I came back I couldn’t find my wife. I went to Jim Morrison’s tomb to look for her. She wasn’t there. I sat there for an hour and a half. I tried Wilde’s and Proust’s. Nobody. I asked the guards for help. Not really good help. Finally, I went back to the hotel where I found a note. I felt better. I went to the Lafayette galeries, the Opera, Hotel Ritz and then to Bilboteque Jazz bar to look for her. I found her watching a big band jazz quartet. Er… she found me. She was pretty upset. We then went to Place Tartre and Sacre Coeur, which in our opinion is the prettiest place in Paris. We bought us a couple of crepes and enjoyed our last night. I watched a drunk Scottish guy in a kilt flash a lady and we heard a pop, which sounded like a gun shot, and found it was a loaf of bread that hit the ground (right next to someone) thrown out from a high-story building. Went home early, packed for Rome and drank maté.

Here's pics of Montmartre, Rodin's Thinker, Moulin Rouge, the Eiffel Tower at night (too beat to care about how to make it right side up) and me reading Julio Cortazar's Rayuela at Pont des Arts (where the book's setting is and where it was probably written).











Don't care to figure out how to make this right side up.

Trying to Speak French in Paris

David and Patricia in Rome

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