WAR? WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

July 31, 2016

A man I admire and appreciate, Michael Mish, musician, actor, writer, producer, seeker, was saying in a FB post today that war is incomprehensible.  The sad fact is that it is, to me, comprehensible.  Explicable?  Hardly, except for all the profits that can be made from waging it.  It may sound harsh to use the term "thinning the herd" and I apologize to anyone who may be offended.  The fact is that in spite of our hoping to be civilized human beings, the instinct to fight .. that limbic response to perceived threat or danger is in every critter on the face of the planet.   Only the strong survive.

I tease a military oriented pal of mine about 'wiring.'  We are all wired  to live.  Our breathing is automatic, as is our need to stay alive.  There are predators and prey.  We note that prey often have their eyes to the sides of their heads, making it easier to perceive danger.  Predators have eyes to the front to stay on target when in pursuit of..  prey! 

Our world remains in conflict because the Powers that Be want to stay in power and like the game of Monopoly or even chess, overcoming our opponents is the goal of the game.  Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek approached this time and again.  Why do we fight? Because we feel challenged or in danger.. or we are simply still too primal in our evolution to not want to "Win!" 

Nature has a way of working.  Humans often think of ourselves as 'above' nature, when, in fact we are just another step in what's happening on our planet, perhaps in All Creation?  I often wonder if dolphins and whales may not have been on dry land and evolved to the point where they saw the dangers of territorial acquistion (Monopoly!) and headed back into the sea where there is much more room and abundant life and sustenance.  Their 'societies' are a bit more simple than good old homo sapiens.  Or are they? With more than 70 percent of the surface of planet Earth covered with oceans, the remaining 30 percent continues to load up with our expanding population.  Imagine having all that room and what some folks believe: that cetaceans may have intelligence comparable or superior to human beings.

So? Why war?  We reduce the herd.  It's sad, but the 'fittest' do survive and with war profiteers oozing their way to the top of the heap, making more and more weapons of war for profit, the profit incentive, along with the need to 'win!' it seems to me that the 'us vs. them' mind set may be around for a long time.  We need to demonize the 'enemy' and as we see in the current religious terror acts by design or just by crazy people, the human race will be a fighting race because competition .. resistance.. which is necessary for every single thing to happen in the relative world.. will prevail.  Conflict is the food of life. Resolving our conflicts can be wonderful on a personal level. It feels good to have a resolution: a pay off.. an understanding of one another.  But the competition aspect is something that most of us are wired to participate in and with the possible exception of His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama, who continues to issue his basic tenet ..  Compassion.. we find "reasons" to fight. 

Of course, as we evolve and see the futility of war, we may choose to not fight.  That's a choice that I made a long time ago when it came to killing.  I do think that expressing anger and getting over it is a wonderful goal, too.  Carrying anger and a grudge is exhausting!  But, if other folks don't get it and have no interest in healing a wound, then we fail in communication and moving beyond our emotions that by nature must erupt from time to time may be impossible.  I'm still in trouble with my friend and really hope for a resolution.  One cannot resolve issues by one's self. 

I choose to not participate in war.  MLK and Gandhi are role models for me and I hope I can stick to that ideal.  Turning the other cheek isn't always easy.  In my perfect world, the need to fight would be given over to drones and robots.  Currently, there's a summer show on ABC called Battlebots!  Ingenious war machines go into an arena fraught with peril and beat the crap out of one another.  Teams of nerdy inventors may have solved the issue of war, if only we could all agree that the death of a Bot is better than the deaths of millions whom we send into the omnivorous maw of Global and Local conflict.  

Next we need to work out overpopulation and bullets.  Slowing down baby production and making bullets tough to acquire are burgeoning ideas. That, and making "WAR" with Bots!  Competition may always be a driving force in our lives.   War? Sadly, yes...  until some idiot gets his hand on THE BUTTON!   Then What???

July 31, 2016 (so long July)

michael sheehan 

WIRE NUTS! NUTS!!

July 30, 2016

A heavy personal statement?  Hah! 

The light fixture in my kitchen nook was not lighting. The fan turns.. the light is dark.  Change the bulb. Dark.  Decide to take a look, teaching myself basic electrics as I go. Switch off! Roger.  undo some stuff.. take out the bulb, Check..

The story is sordid and sad and I'm just going to say that the electrical people who have wire nuts in different colors should have a meeting because after half an hour of failure and off to the hardware store for wire nuts and choosing the orange because that is what was in the light housing..  was a mistake and the package of nuts exploded all over the kitchen but sort of worked once I found them again and finally figured out how to cram all that wiring back into the housing and put the bulb back and the glass globe and crossing my fingers did not electrocute myself or start a fire.. what's that smell?? ... just my paranoid imagination..  

Light.. let there be light and no fires!  

I'm soaked with the sweat of good labor standing on the kitchen table and crying in frustration, but happy to have put the whole thing back together, never sure what the heck was wrong.. it was not a burned out bulb, Bub. 

The Tennessee Williams play, at The Fountain is worth seeing!  Baby Doll.  Tell them I sent you.  http://onstagelosangeles.blogspot.com/2016/07/steamy-summers-stuff-at-fountain.html 

Probably, no discount, but..  no harm in asking. 

 ///

I'm still hoping others will write to the Tangerine man at 725 5th Ave, New York, NY 10022 and ask him to just stop his campaign.  No harm in asking. 

August is holding off one more day!  Summer! Yowsuh!

July 30, 2016

michaelsheehan

FRIDAY: ART AND THEATRE

July 29, 2016

These days, the difference from day to day with the images from my porch do not seem to change much.  In my imagination, when all of the images are on display, there will subtle differences that, like single frames in a movie, will change, if only just a bit.  Perhaps making a film, shooting the images like animation cells is an idea? 

On my walk yesterday I shot another view of the "Shoe Factory" that  shows another angle.  In the foreground is a house on the street above that has been vacant for many years.  I've always hoped that it would be demolished and that the City would create a terraced garden that would be tended by the neighbors.  Good luck with that! 

// Watching Lucy do her Vitameatavegamin commercial. Classic. Classic. Classic.  23% alcohol! 

Theatre and Art are on the agenda.. hah! I have an agenda today.  Malibu tomorrow and Petanque in Claremont on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.

July 29, 2016

michaelsheehan

PLEASE

July 28, 2016

Coincidence?  Today is Sally Struthers' birthday. Right this minute, she is a guest on the Dick Cavett Show forty four years ago in 1972.  All In The Family was a big deal at this time and Sally, in a flowered pants suit is gorgeous.  

A few years later she appeared on a TV game show called Showoffs, produced by Goodson/Todman hosted by Bobby Van.  I was fortunate to have been in on developing the show and was 'rewarded' by being asked to be a contestant. The pilot had been made with Larry Blyden as the host, but unfortunately, Larry had been killed in an auto accident in Mexico. It was during the search for a new host that I played the game in the office with Bobby Van's audition.  After Bobby's audition, I was waiting for the elevator there at Cahuenga and Sunset where the GT offices were at that time.  He was quite cordial and asked me how he did!  He got the job! 

The game was basically Charades with celebrities and 'civilian contestants' playing the game.   When I appeared as a contestant on Showoffs,  I met Sally.   I'd done The Dating Game a couple of times and was wondering like anything how I could join the Screen Actors Guild and become a working actor.  Thanks to Sally and Ron Masak and Dick Gautier and Joyce Bullifant, I won enough cash on the show to survive for a year!   The next year or so, I finally got my first voice over job that led  to SAG membership and the beginnings of a wonderful time of my life.  More serendipity of whom you meet and when.  Another story for another time.

I was really attracted to Sally and after I'd been bumped from the show,  sent her a heartfelt letter c/o Goodson/Todman.  She actually responded with a brief handwritten note explaining the 'caste' system in Hollywood and that my postion in the community was not concurrent to where she currently resided, crushing my hopes of a date with the cute little blonde whom I'd first seen tapping away like anything in her Shirley Temple curls on The Smothers Brothers Show.  

The last time I spoke to Sally, she was still very cute and has enjoyed a productive career. She had known Andy and Garret Parks' mom, Betty Garrett, from her days on All In The Family. We both attended Betty's memorial at the Mark Taper Forum.  I didn't ask her out that time. Interestingly, Betty died on my birthday just five years ago.  And, my birth date coincides with Sally's daughter's.  Apropos nothing, really.  

Oh my! The coincidences of our lives that lead us to where we are today.   Windows open and close and most of the time we only realize in retrospect how we may have dodged a bullet or  fallen into the lap of good fortune!  Another story of which was that after I had done the voice of Bamm Bamm (following Jay North who had originated the teen Bamm Bamm voice with Sally as the voice of Pebbles), Hanna Barbera was in the process of reviving The Flintstones again and I was called back to read.  I read with Sally!  Neither of us made the cut. 

If you know Sally.. please tell her I said Hello and that I wish her a very Happy Birthday.

July 28, 2016 

michaelsheehan

PLEASE JUST STOP

July 27, 2016

Today's photo from the porch includes a helicopter.  Well, the helicopter was there a second ago!?  Oh well.

A pal of mine has suggested that I abandon Facebook until after the election because I tend to take some of the junk that folks post a bit too seriously.  My approach to things is to find a way to harmony.  Most of us get our backs up and get defensive instead of looking for a solution to a problem.  

I'm posting my letter to the Republican candidate again, just in case some folks might like to follow my lead and politely ask him to just stop.  We can never know unless we ask.  It's not too much to ask, is it?  Maybe he'll do me the courtesy of a response.   I think of the stories of the snowflake or the butterfly flapping its wings that make a big difference.  So, here it is: 

Mr. Donald Trump

725 5th Avenue

New York, NY  10022

Dear Mr. Trump:

Please just stop.

Sincerely, 

Michael Sheehan

///

I wonder what would happen if a million people just wrote to this person?  I am remembering Miracle on 34th Street as the trial of Kris Kringle is presented with bags of letters to Santa!  

This, of course, is an art project.  I tell two friends, (or the hundred or so of you who take time to read this journal) and you tell two friends, etc. and, if bags of mail started to pile up at the candidate's address, that might be interesting!  Will you send a letter to the candidate? Will  you encourage two friends to encourage two friends? The exponential effect, if nothing else, might get some news attention?  Please pass it on. It's a simple request.

//

Evidently, I am still in trouble with my friend. I've come to the realization that if someone wants to hurt you, that you can either take it or decide to stand up and let the hurt roll off your back. Not easy for me.  Passive aggression is easy to foist on someone. "You know what you did!"  Well.. even if I was sure, I want to find a way to fix it: to move forward and allow the hurt to heal. 

Of course, there may be pain or hurt feelings with my friend.. Dealing with a person who is taciturn until a flash of anger snaps is a challenge, of course. There's a red flag there.  If the only real emotion you experience from anyone is anger or annoyance, that must be considered.   Of course, one starts walking on egg shells when the feeling that any misstep will get you in trouble and this leads to a superficial relationship.   In my experience, there are few friends and many nice others with whom we share mostly superficial stuff.  When one is blessed with true friends, it's a gift.   

I write about this dust up because I don't fully understand it.  My friend is silent.  Having fun is a challenge for both of us.  If life is always so serious, that makes having any fun difficult.  Jokes or teasing are part of fun. Never knowing if your sense of humor syncs with another person is pretty upsetting.  Noting the sad news of the day is important, but in my philosophy, if I can't do something  about it, (like writing to the republican) I want to be respectful, but not dwell on it.  To me dwelling on any huge issue to the point of obsessing, is not my job.  

As frustrating as this current issue is, I hope to stop dwelling on it and either fix it or let it go.  There may be an in between space and that's okay as we move along.. At least it's moving.  

///

I had to let a very good friend go a couple of years ago and I still feel awful about it.  He was a brilliant artist (at least in his own mind!) and got off on being cruel with his teasing me.  When I asked him in person and even wrote a letter to him saying that he was making me feel awful and if the only way that we could still be pals was to just let the abuse continue, that I wouldn't do it.  Should I have just allowed that this person was incapable of being kind or understanding of my request and kept the friendship by being the 'bigger' person?  Some folks stay in spite of the abuse.  I miss my pal.

I've felt only a little abused in the connection that I've been writing about. The benefits of this friendship have been quite nice.   I hope communication will get better and that a resolution will evolve.  Evolution : moving forward... having some fun?  Seems like a good idea to me.

Meanwhile?  Please copy and paste the republican's address into a simple letter. Even a post card?  and ask him to just Stop! I thought about sending a check for a dollar to see if he would cash it!

Mr. Donald Trump

725 5th Avenue

New York, NY  10022

July 27, 2016

michael sheehan

PENTE, GO, SCORE FOUR, TIC/TAC/TOE

July 26, 2016

Even though I delivered the art project to the gallery on Saturday, I awakened this AM with more ideas to make "Game".. (they wanted a title, so I called it "Untitled" Game) more of a game.  The games listed above are all played on flat surfaces.. well, Score Four isn't.. but oh well.. and I've been considering at least a tic, tac, toe thing. 

I made a little sign for the piece that gives instructions:

GAME
1. Remove pink 
cloth.

2. Play.

3. Replace pink 
cloth. 

The piece is maybe more complicated than visitors will want to deal with?  I wonder. Well, I've had a good time putting it together, so we'll see.

I'm still in trouble and tried again to fix it today.  No dice.  I mention this here because it is very uncomfortable to be punished without a specific reason.  It's like the old line that is attributed mostly to women, "You know what you did!"  No measure of apology or effort to make things better can fix what is not understood.  

Reviewing Tennessee Williams' "Baby Doll" on Friday, 7/29/16.  I need a plus one! Any takers? Hollywood at The Fountain at 7:30.

michaelsheehan
july 26, 2016

 

AT LAST! AT LAST!! WAS IT INEVITABLE?

July 25, 2016

At last I am, evidently, in disagreement with one of my very best friends.  The issue is not really complicated, but it's interesting.  This will be pretty obscure, as is... to me... the issue at hand. It has to do with how to behave regarding the coming election.  I refuse to sink to the level of people who will kick you in the balls and laugh about it.  Wear a cup!  Of course, that behavior is The Shadow that Deepak Chopra speaks of in a recent post that I shared on Facebook.  Oh, that danged FB! This is Chopra's paragraph that explains the essence of The Shadow:

"The shadow compounds all the dark impulses--hatred, aggression, sadism, selfishness, jealousy, resentment, sexual transgression--that are hidden out of sight. The name originated with Carl Jung, but its basic origin came from Freud's insight that our psyches are dualistic, sharply divided between the conscious and unconscious. The rise of civilization is a tribute to how well we obey our conscious mind and suppress our unconscious side. But what hides in the shadows will out."

To me, when intelligent people allow their limbic reactions to take over, as we see with the rising flames of hate and bigotry fanned with enthusiasm by the Republican candidate and his gang, reason takes a back seat and civilization takes a hit. We may become reactionaries.  

I became a reactionary today!  We reach a point, perhaps when 'enough is enough' and something snaps.  This is the "shadow" made manifest. A little scary.  What got to me this morning was    the plethora of robo calls I am receiving today.  Usually, there's no one on the other end of the call. One was a recording and one was a man, "I am Mr. Sims..."  I had my morning wtf do you want voice on and before I knew it I was yelling into the phone. I couldn't hear when he hung up on me.  After a moment, I have to laugh at myself because I've allowed this invasive auto-dial crap to invade my home.  What's most frustrating is that these crooks now have a way to make a call from a 'non-working' number that cannot be traced.  Even if you put the numer on the Do Not Call List, it doesn't matter because these low lifes don't use actual working numbers. 

All that said, I love my friend and respect her points of view. If 'fighting' the ever growing tide of bigotry and fear is a thing, then, I'd like figure out a way to undermine it's fear mongering and anger. The mindset that "force must be met with force" is aberrant to my way of thinking.  I tease another friend of mine and pass this idea off to 'wiring.'  That's another story that I won't even try to explain today.

Gandhi and MLK work for me.  Becoming a waterboarding, club swinging redneck bully might be a way to get your way, but then in the year book, your class activities are listed as waterboarding, club swinging and Redneck Bully Society.

Another meaningless rant and I am still in trouble with someone who refuses to discuss what the trouble is.  That's another thing that cannot be forced.  

The phone has rung six times and that's a record. And, it's not even noon!

Oh well. 

July 25, 2016

michaelsheehan

CLEAR THE AIR

July 24, 2016

Even though the fires still rage only contained by ten percent up toward Santa Clarita, the air seems to be clearing a little.  I have a friend who lives in Lancaster.  Hope the dense air is not a problem. 

After delivering my artwork to the LA Municipal Art Gallery Open Call yesterday, I'm a little at loose ends.  I'd love to have some help cleaning house now!  The art has taken over! 

On the TV news, we need to keep in perspective that all of the tragedies that catch the eye: cops shooting innocent people, terrible mass killings.. are still well in the minority of how we live our lives.   We exacerbate the issue of guns and gun nuts when the issue should be to focus on what we CAN control: Preventing a fascist dictator from rising to power on the backs of easily impressionable Americans. 

I note also that a couple of TV ads for new cars show the driver as a reckless show off driving way too fast and impressing the neighbors with speed and hubris.  I guess that's the type of person Audi wants to sell cars to.   The message eludes me.  AND..  handing over control of our fate to driverless cars seems odd to me, too.  Watching a beautiful Mercedes parking itself as the driver just takes his hands off the wheel is just troubling! If there's an accident, is the driver at fault?

Captain Marvel is now a woman!  Billy Batson who uttered the word SHAZAM!! (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury: Wisdom, Strength, Endurance, Power, Courage and Speed!)  to become Captain Marvel is now Trans!? I'm all for Girl Power and would really love it if Billy had first become Billie and along with brother Meriadoc Batson (Merry) and Freddie the crippled news girl.. become the crime fighting trio!  Of course, with the introduction of a super duper Wonder Woman at the end of Batman vs Superman and the burgeoning rise of that character, I wonder how feminists really feel about women behaving like men? 

SHAZAM!  May we all adopt the attributes of our super heroes and carry on.  (I'd like to fly and have X Ray vision!)

What an odd ramble today? 

You go girl Captain!

July 24, 2016

michaelsheehan

 

BLUE HULA / THE BIG DAY

July 23, 2016

Uncle Bill was a carney.. amongst other things.. brilliant and kind. With his in-laws he ran cotton candy, snow cones and some carnival games and attractions. He traveled all over creation.  I remember being  embarrassed to see my older cousin Bill, Jr. running the softball-in-the-peach basket game. Three balls for a quarter!  Looking like an extra in The Wild One, he had a pack of Luckies rolled up in his Tshirt sleeve. He chuckled  as I hustled by the  game pretending that I didn't know him.  Sylvan days on the carnival midway on the Fourth of July. Of course, he called me by my name! 

In the off season, the family would crank  out  cheap plaster prizes, including this shapely hula dancer.  She came  all painted head to toe with a 'grass' skirt and maybe a lei to modestly present her perky breasts.  I do so love this girl.  

/// 

After being unable to sleep last night and writing that memory of my mom's brother and his family, I finally did sleep and got up early to complete the artwork for the LAMunicipal Art Gallery Open Call.  The staff has been wonderful and even allowed me to assemble my own piece.  Thanks to Jeannie Pool, I had materials that all of a sudden presented themselves to save a lot of time.  The work is a bit make shift, but that was mostly my intention.  I still have a little to do on it and shall get to it next week.  With the trouble that I am currently weathering, I was lucky to have the project to focus on.  Whether I'll be able to get out of trouble is now up for grabs. I'm of the opinion that for people whom we truly care for, finding a way to communicate, even after harsh words, must be possible. It takes a strong desire, of course... and it takes two to tango.  I allude to this situation here, because the person I am in trouble with won't tell me a good time to call.  The last time I called I was hung up on and that smarts!  

Ultimately, we all have to have survival modes.  Being physically safe is primary, of course.  Being emotionally safe is almost equally important.  Respect for each others safety is a good thing!

I loaded my artwork into the gallery today at noon.  Here are some photos of the piece in the drive way and then some photos 'in situa.'  Boy. the smaze from the fires is dramatic and a bit scary..  I took an early AM photo and then finished the piece and loaded it into the bus.  The work in this show is so eclectic! Over 500 artists!  The theme is 'Play' and the artwork I saw today ran the gamut from great junk to well crafted paintings. 

I do not anticipate that for friends to come to the opening would be a good idea on August 14th because with over 500 artists participating, if each of us invites one or two others.. do that math for a mob.. and and and.. the park is overrun with Pokemon Go seekers!  Today, dozens of people all bent over their pokephones were crusing the park. That meant that parking, which is normally not a big deal on a Saturday...  was dear!

Come Play!  I'll be happy to meet anyone during the run of the show from August 18 to the closing in mid September.  Noon to five on Thursdays through Sundays.  Email or call me?

This presentation is upside down.. sorry.

 Somehow this one is in correct order.  It's Braile. Turn your head to the left 90 degrees.  Then, it reads left to right. The first cell is 1, 3, 4. 

123 is the left column and 456 is the right colums in the cell. 

Wonky, but in order starting with the upside down 'L' 

Another view of the text. Click to enlarge.

Morse Code all wonky  dit da dit dit, da da da, dit dit dit da, dit!

Zen Art

   I've decided to not invite gallery visitors  to draw or write on these cubes.  I'll call it 'zen' and leave it at that. Chatting with Mark Lucero, one of the gallery installers, he came up with reasons that chalk might be an issue.   He participated, along with several of the other folks at the LAMAG in the Julyfourthproject four years ago and is a very nice guy.  So.. zen and art.  I might add some 'Xs' and 'Os' for people to play tic tack toe with.. I keep having more ideas even though the piece is basically done. 

Make art. Forgive others and stay cool! In every sense of that word!!

July 23, 2016
michaelsheehan