IN LIFE THERE IS NEVER A DULL MOMENT. YOU MIGHT AS WELL EMBRACE WHATEVER HAPPENS. FIND THE GOOD LIFE. by Gary Smolker, Social Commentator and Values Critic

There is an objective difference between (1) knowing something, (2) understanding something, and (3) being able to apply what you know in a real life situation.

EXPERIENCE

I live in Sherman Oaks, California.

I am a tenant in a rented condominium.

I am currently living through a mitigation of water damage situation.

My bedroom carpet became soaked with water flowing in from my bathroom on Veteran’s Day, two walls in my bedroom became saturated with the water that flowed into my bedroom, the drywall on two of the walls in my bedroom became saturated with water and had a moisture content over 17%, and water seeped through the floor of my bathroom and through the floor of my bedroom to the room (a lobby) below.

A water damage company took charge of phase one of mitigation of the above described water damage situation.

My understanding of what the water damage specialist did is as follows: my bedroom carpet was pulled back, the wet carpet padding under the water soaked carpet was removed, portions of two walls in my bedroom were cut out and removed, blowers were turned on, the blowers blew air on the wet carpet and on the wet walls in my bedroom, and either before or after the blowers were turned on a disinfectant was applied to wood members of portions of the walls and to wall structural components.

My insurance carrier STATE FARM told me that my Renter’s Insurance Policy and my STATE FARM Umbrella Insurance policies:

1. (1) covered the water damage claims made by the Home Owner’s Association and the other residents in the condominium complex,
2. (2) but probably did not cover the cost to repair or to replace or to dry out the wet carpet owned by my landlord and rented to me and probably did not cover the cost to remove and replace water soaked carpet padding under the water soaked wet carpet,
3. (3) and that my STATE FARM’s renter’s insurance policy did cover the additional living expense incurred when I relocated to another place to live during construction.

WHERE SHOULD I LIVE DURING CONSTRUCTION?

My insurance carrier hired a company to help me find a suitable hotel to relocate to until the rebuilding of my condominium is completed.

The hotel relocation company provided two hotel locations for my consideration:

Hampton Inn & Suites Los Angeles/Sherman Oaks, 5638 Sepulveda Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91411

Best Western Plus Carriage Inn, 5525 Sepulveda Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91411.

THE BELMOND HOTEL IN SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

The photo above is posted on Instagram with the following copy:

“Immerse yourself in a world of wonderful Russian cuisine and learn more about  caviar the black gold with exclusive classes, led by undisputed caviar and vodka master Alexander Dmitriev.” 

I am informed that the restaurants in the Belmond Hotel in St. Petersburg serve caviar and oysters from the eastern part of Russia that are not available anywhere else.

The Belmond Hotel is very close to the Hermitage Museum – which I intend to visit some day.

MY QUESTION: If I can book a room in the Belmond Hotel in Saint Petersburg Russia at a rate comparable to or less than the charge to rent a decent hotel room/hotel suite at the nearby Hilton Hotel in Woodland Hills, California, would State Farm pay for it?

I am willing to pay the charge for the round trip flight to Saint Petersburg from Los Angeles.

NEXT

Find the good life.

That is really all it is about.

Everything else is just dust blowing in the wind.

Making the best of a bad situation is a difficult skill.

Gary Smolker, Social Commentator and Values Critic

Copyright © 2019 by Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved

 

Creativity and the Power of Women – A Movie Review of “Belle”, “Chef”, “Million Dollar Arm” and Commentary on The Role of Good Taste, The Status of Women and Points of View by Gary S. Smolker

 

Copyright © 2014 by Gary S. Smolker

Updated June 12, 2014

Introduction

Each of these movies is a vibrant movie which has broad appeal.

Watching each one of these movies moved my mind and heart and will move the minds and hearts of other viewers too.

“Belle”

“Belle” touched my emotional sensitivities and political and social beliefs I am passionate about as an American who cares about race, gender and “affirmative action” issues that impact social, educational, and business affairs in the United States which are subject to a multitude of laws and impactful governmental and institutional gender and race related actions and practices.

“Belle” is an intriguingly profound movie of broad appeal because the story told in “Belle” touches emotionally laden sentiments among white people in America about black people and also touches extremely emotional issues about the status and treatment of women in modern day America.

Watching “Belle” was an intrinsically dramatic experience for me because of “Belle’s” direct and forthright portrayal of ideals about gender and race that are important to me.

The story told in “Belle” directly, truthfully and dramatically portrays common place cruel and unfair treatment of women and black people in 17th and 18th century Great Britain.

It is clear to me that the release of “Belle” to the general public is going to have social, political and economic effects beyond immediately observable economic consequences.

Although I am not a Millennial or a member of Generation X, I am 68 years old, it is clear to me America’s Millennials (people aged 18 to 33) and Generation X (people aged 34 to 49) who watch “Belle” will become enraged because they care deeply about justice, fairness, and equality.

They yearn deeply to live in a world where it is truly and wholeheartedly believed that all men are created equal by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.

Where their hearts and minds lie on issues of race and gender is not a secret to me.

By the way, where Millennials’ minds and hearts lie on issues of race and gender is a big deal in the United States because there are more Millennial voters than Senior Voters in the United States.

In the United States there are 46 million eligible Millennials voters and 39 million eligible Senior (age 69 to 86) voters.

I am constantly in the presence of and interacting with Millennials.

Two of my three daughters and many of my young entrepreneurial friends and colleagues are Millennials.

I know from my own personal experience that Millennials are sincerely concerned about inequality, women’s rights and the status and treatment of women in society, the environment, health of the planet, their own health, education, educational opportunities, jobs, job opportunities and making a living.

Millennials are educated, concerned and “enlightened.”

They have $1 trillion in Student Debt.

Fifty percent of them consider themselves to be Independent; that is to say, 50 % of them consider themselves to be neither a Republican nor a Democrat.

Sixty five percent of them say losing their phone or computer is WORSE than losing their car.

Millennials in the 18 to 29 year old age group make up one-fifth of the eligible voting population in the United States.

Women are also a big voting block in the United States.

Black and Hispanic Females were Obama’s strongest Millennial supporters in 2012.

The group that had the largest turn out in the last presidential election in the United States was “Young Married Females.”

That being said, the rage against prejudice and bias engendered by watching the cruel and unfair treatment of blacks and women portrayed in “Belle” will impact which candidate wins the next election for President of the United States.

Watching “Belle” will make women and black people of all ages, and Millennials mad, and will spur them to support and vote for Hillary Rodman Clinton to be the next President of the United States.

Very simply put:

• Hillary Rodman Clinton does a better job of connecting and communicating with the average American voter than any other person likely to run for President of the United States in the next presidential election in the United States.

• Watching “Belle” will spur people who care about women to become even more fed up with the lack of respect shown to women every day.  Watching “Belle” will ignite an urge in young people to be energetically and actively involved in the already existing widespread groundswell of support for the election of Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States because young people care passionately about fairness and the status of women.

• The emotionally laden messages delivered in “Belle” will compel women and men who have daughters and grand-daughters to actively support the campaign to elect Hillary Clinton President of the United States.

In the United States elections are won by the candidate who best relates to the average voter.

That being said, Hillary Clinton’s message (“she gives a damn about the average person”) talks to a wide range of American voters.

The average American voter decides which candidate to vote for by asking himself or herself the following questions about each candidate:

1. Is the candidate someone who relates to people like me?
2. Is he or she someone who can handle a crisis?
3. Is he or she someone I can trust?
4. Is he or she authentic?
5. Does he or she have good character?
6. Does he or she care about people like me?

The inflammatory portrayal of the treatment of slaves, slavery, black people and of women in the movie “Belle” emphasizes the need to have someone on “your side” if you are an average American voter because the average American truly and strongly believes the phrase in the Declaration of Independence, “…we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights…”

The Declaration of Independence is the heart and soul of America.

That being said, the movie “Belle” speaks directly to the “Spirit of America” because it reminds the average American voter that fairness, the status of women, inequality, gender and race bias, their health and the health of the environment are among the things they care most about.

That phrase in the “Declaration” … “we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights,” makes the United States different than any other country in the world.

People of all ages in the United States, especially young people, care strongly about inequality.

The story told in “Belle” directly makes the point that that is a virtuous point of view.

ASIDE: In 2008, a whopping 66 % of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 voted for President Obama.

Recent trends reveal that voter participation among young voters is steadily increasing.  They represented 18 % of all votes cast in 2008 and 19 % in 2012.

Put in perspective, 46 million Millennials were eligible to vote during the last presidential cycle compared to only 39 million senior citizens, and that figure is projected to skyrocket by 2020.

“Chef”

“Chef” is a story about commonly experienced conflicts imbedded in the human condition.

“Chef” is a story well and tastefully told about the conflicts men everywhere have between (a) the demands of their “job”, (b) their need to make a “living” and to be a “provider”, (c) their desire to be a good parent and “family man”, (d) their need to take risks and their need for security and (d) their need to only do work they believe in 100% with all their heart and no hesitation.

Women, of course, also have those conflicts.

Additionally, the story in “Chef” in dramatic fashion shows the sixth sense that women have that men don’t.

“Chef” is a “how you feel about your work catches on” story which takes place in the larger context of a multidimensional interrelated set of mutually supportive love stories.

Everyone will enjoy watching “Chef” because “Chef” is a joyful and charming story about family, friends, feelings, creativity, work and personal and professional success.

“Million Dollar Arm”

“The Million Dollar Arm” is based on a true story.  The characters it portrays are real life people and the story it tells is a true story.

“The Million Dollar Arm” tells a fun, vibrant and joyful true story about a creative man’s endurance, inspiration, intensity, poise, perseverance and eventual humanity as he goes from being “broke” to becoming tremendously successful in business and in his personal life.

“Million Dollar Arm” is full of beautiful and dramatic and vibrant and educational images and humor.

“The Million Dollar Arm” portrays a journey like episode in the real life of an extremely creative sports agent.

The sport’s agent’s creativity, openness to new ideas, experiences and perceptual space portrayed in this movie are “over-the-top.”

While watching “Million Dollar Arm”, I wanted to hire the main character (a sports agent) to be my personal agent.  I still want to hire that man as my agent.

 

The Impact of Good Taste in Movies

Men should never underestimate the “power” of women, nor should women.

People should never take women for granted or ignore the power, intelligence, character, talents and status of women.

Women are “smarter” than men.

Women have a sixth sense that men don’t have.

Women deserve a lot of respect.

The movies “Belle”, “Chef” and “Million Dollar Arm” prove those points in a tasteful way through the actions of the main female characters.

Each of the main female characters in those movies is even more brilliant than the lead male character; acts with poise and gracefully at all times; has a sixth sense that the main male character lacks; and, steals the show.

Taste, Talent and the Ability to Emotionally Connect Are A Winning Combination

In communication, talent and taste matter:

Here is what Pablo Picasso had to say on that topic:

“There are painters

who transform the sun into a yellow spot,

but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence,

transform a yellow spot into the sun.”   — Pablo Picasso

Watching movies that engage our minds become part of the wealth of our lived experience.

That is the reason I predict the movies “Belle”, “Chef” and “The Million Dollar Arm” will have a strong influence on the political future of Hillary Clinton and on the “woman rights” movement.

How something is said – if it connects emotionally to your heart and mind –  will great impact.

Consider the influence of the following two alternative ways of talking about whether or not it is okay to smoke – which is demonstrated in the following two scenes:

“A monk asks a superior if it is permissible

to smoke while praying.

The superior says certainly not.

Next day, the monk asks the superior if it is permissible

to pray while smoking.

That, says the superior, is not merely permissible, it is admirable.”  — George F. Will

The talent of the movie maker as a communicator of ideas matters a lot.

Our relationship with a movie, the characters in the movie, and the message delivered in a movie transforms us to the extent they touch our heart and/or our mind by becoming a beacon which influences the way we engage with people and everything else we do.

The messages and characters in each of these three movies will touch people’s hearts because each of these movies was made by an extremely talented movie maker.

Inevitably, people will be inspired, given hope and taught good lessons by embracing the stories told and the thoughts, processes and ideas presented in these movies.

If you see any one of these three movies and if you are a direct, intense and hardworking person highly motivated both to work and to produce, and motivated to produce entities and things that are both new and valuable and always on the lookout for new and valuable ideas and thoughts and processes and inspiration and solutions to problems, you will recommend to your friends that they see these movies too.

Each of these movies tells a story which proves that it is hard to beat a person who never gives up.

 

“Belle”,”Chef”, and “Million Dollar Arm” Are Masterful Movies

Each of these movies is about the power of an idea.

Each of these movies is about the power of women.

The main female character in each of these movies has a “true eye”, a penetrating perceptiveness, a seamless sense of order and perspective, and is a fully realized human being in every way throughout the movie.

In each of these movies each of the male main characters becomes a fully formed adult and a more fully realized human being under the influence of the main female character.

The story in each movie is masterfully told.  Each story is so masterfully performed that it is impossible for an audience to avoid building an emotional relationship with each character.

Emotional tension begins with the first scene in each movie and never abates.

Things never settle down.

You just have to know what will happen next.

The Main Characters in “Belle”

Belle, the main character in the movie “Belle”, is a woman with practical and penetrating intelligence, curiosity, and an independent spirit.

Belle is broadly educated, very sophisticated and has fantastic intuitive decision making skill.

She is a whole brain thinker. She is a “beauty” in every sense of the word “beauty” and excels at everything she does.

Belle’s beau, in this movie, is a man who has the conviction that all people (black and white) should be treated “equally”  as human beings under the law.  He has Herculean persistence in advocating (speaking out) and standing for the point of view that slavery is immoral.  He is a man of conviction who fully believes that slavery is an abomination.

He not only allows himself to feel his feelings, his feelings emote from him.

His is controlled by his aesthetic and moral sensibilities; he lives his life controlled by moral considerations.

He “walks the walk” and he does what he wants to do the way he wants to.  This creates tensions.

The Issues of Slavery and Social Status in “Belle”

The underlying tensions in “Belle” revolve around the issue of the social status of black people.

At the time the story in this movie takes place slavery exists.

At that time, people thought of slaves as being part human and part beast at the same time.

“Society”, the gentry, people of all colors and all levels of society live in a world where “black slaves” are not thought of as being “people” but instead are thought of as being beasts of burden and no different than cattle.

The story in this movie takes place in a pre-industrialized world in which heavy manual labor is performed by black slaves who are used as beasts of burden.

At the time in history in which the story in this movie takes place black people are “caught” in the “wild” and then shipped to slave markets across oceans and seas on slave ships.

This movie follows what happens in a legal case.  The audience is told at the beginning of this movie that a shipload of black slaves was thrown over board while being “shipped”/transported by sea to a slave market in London to be sold.

The owner of the cargo of slaves made a claim on its insurance carrier for recovery of damages based on total “loss” – a loss due to all slaves having been thrown overboard during the voyage.

At the time this story takes place, a cargo of slaves could be insured just like a cargo of cattle.  A cargo of slaves could be insured as “cargo”  just like a cargo of any other goods being shipped by sea.

The insurance company denied the slave-owner’s claim of loss and refused to pay the slave owner anything.

A lower court ruled in favor of the slave owner, ruled that the insurance company had to pay for the total loss of cargo.

As this movie takes place, this “insurance claim” case is now on appeal before the Lord Chief Justice of Great Britain.

The Lord Chief Justice must decide whether this is a fraudulent insurance claim, i.e. was it necessary to throw the cargo of slaves overboard in order to save the ship or, alternatively was the cargo of black slaves thrown overboard because the slaves had become sick during the sea voyage.

If the slaves had become sick/diseased during the voyage they would be worth more to the owner of the cargo of slaves dead (via receipt of payment on an insurance claim for total loss of cargo) than the slaves would be worth to their owner if they arrived in port alive, i.e. were alive when the shipped docked in port to be off-loaded and then be sold at the slave market.

Diseased slaves would be worth nothing at the slave market.

The Chief Justice had to decide if the slaves thrown overboard became sick during the voyage or if as claimed by their owner the ship ran out of drinking water during the voyage which necessitated throwing the slaves overboard in order to save the ship.

Getting back to Belle.

• Belle is the daughter of a black Caribbean slave who was married to an Admiral in the British Navy.  Her father was a white man and member of the highest level of British society.

• When the movie begins, her father (the white Admiral) is picking Belle up to take Belle to live with the Admiral’s uncle in England because the Admirable is about to embark on a long sea voyage and he doesn’t know if he will ever return from this tour of duty alive.  Belle’s mother has passed away.

The Admiral’s uncle is the Lord Chief Justice of Great Britain, the man who will decide the insurance claim case described above.

During the course of the movie, the Lord Chief Justice, who was childless, falls in love with Belle, loves her as he would love his own daughter if he had a daughter.

The Genius Use of Opposites to Make The Social Point Made in “Belle”

Part of the genius in the making the sociological point that blacks are not stupid beasts being made in the movie “Belle” is the choice of scenes to tell the story being told in “Belle”.

The movie maker chose scenes in which Belle interacts with members of the highest level of society in Great Britain, the idle gentry, to deliver the message that black people are as smart, talented and educable as white people.

In each of those scenes, Belle is far more intelligent, far more educated, far more sophisticated, far more poised, far more graceful, and far more polite and generous than the male and female members of the gentry with whom she interacts.

Proactively Disrupting the Status Quo

The main character in “Chef” and the main character in “Million Dollar Arm” proactively disrupted the status quo.

During the course of each of these movies the main character went from being “broke” and “down and out” to becoming a great business success who realized his full potential as a human being.

These stories illustrate the potential benefit of listening and that “listening” is the ability to be changed by “hearing” what the right person says to you.

In each movie the main character listened to what a special woman in his life told him, changed what he was doing as a result and became a great success by doing what she let him know would be a good thing for him to do.

In each of these movies the main character reached his full potential as a result of listening to a woman in his life who gave him guidance.

Each of these movies demonstrate their is wisdom in the advice “Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.”

Also each movie demonstrates the benefit that can be derived from following Napoleon Hill’s advice: “Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’  Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.”

Although pennies don’t drop from heaven, they have to be earned here on earth, these movies show how much fun making a fortune can be if you do what you love do to and that no man can make a success of a business he does not love.

Each of their businesses caught fire because their businesses had a purpose beyond making money and beyond making them look “good”/effective.

They genuinely loved what they were doing.

The Main Women in “Belle”, “Chef” and “Million Dollar Arm”

The main women in these three movies have no rough edges.

They are mellow, friendly, gentle, balanced, multidimensional, smart and easy to enjoy role models.

Listening to them speak will aid the flowering of your spirit and continue to expand your perspective long after you are done watching them perform their roles in these three movies.

Passionate Heroic Actions & Great Accomplishments

The source of great accomplishments is passion.

Behind the success and driving the success accomplished on a great adventure is a tenacious believing individual.

Behind the success each of the main male characters  accomplished in “Chef” and Million Dollar Arm” were passionate believing women who “stuck by their men.”

Each of these women was a balanced understanding person who could see “nuances” which the men couldn’t see.  Each of these women had a “subtly-appreciating-intelligence”, a sixth sense, an intuition, that enabled them to see an infinity of things the men couldn’t see.

These women were 100% present in everything they did.  They understood the emotional connotation of what was going on while the main male characters in these movies were lost in thought without a clue of what was happening to them in their lives.

It takes a team to accomplish something significant.  It takes an effective brain team.

The main male character in “Chef” and in “Million Dollar Arm” had a brain team which worked with them in a highly effective fashion.

Each of the main female characters in “Chef” and “Million Dollar Arm” were a critical and crucial and essential part of the male main character’s brain team.

Without them on their teams, the men would not have been able to accomplish the great things they accomplished.

“Chef”

The movie “Chef” is a demonstration of the rule that there is no passion in playing it small.

At the beginning of this movie we see that the main character, a chef, has settled for living a life that is less than the one he is capable of living.

He has descended from being a creative chef and gastronomic guru to becoming a mainstream chef supervising a crew of kitchen helpers preparing and cooking the same dishes day after day – dishes which he creatively created ten years ago.

Supervising the cooking of a kitchen crew of the same dishes day after day is driving him crazy.

As the movie begins, the “chef’s” boss (the owner of the restaurant where the chef works) will not allow the chef to create any new dishes.

The chef is about to die from boredom.  The chef is a tortured soul as a result of being a “creative chef” who has not been allowed by the owner of the restaurant where he works to actualize his creative potential or even to engage his creative impulses for the past ten years.

This “creative” chef is no longer a gastronomic influence, a gastronomic guru or pacemaker.

He has become a “hostage of his own success”/getting a regular pay-check working for a restaurant owner who does not want to take the risk of placing any new unique creative “untried dishes” on the menu.

His life is full of negative tension.

He no longer looks forward to going to work each day.

He is no longer living a fulfilling life.

“Million Dollar Arm”

The movie “Million Dollar Arm” is a demonstration of the fact that “all” great ideas are traceable to a “tenacious believing individual.”

The most difficult thing in running a value creating business is having a good creative idea and then making the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity.

 

Slavery

The interrelated topics of slavery, power, money, monetary interests, sex and social identity are on everyone’s mind.

Those forces unleash a tsunami of heart centered emotional tensions in the movies “Belle”, “Chef” and “Million Dollar Arm”, and are the forces driving the pending actions the National Basketball Association (NBA) is taking against Donald Sterling to strip him of his ownership of the Clippers basketball team,

Without awareness of the power of sex we are reduced to a sort of self-contained void without accurate awareness of the space around us.

Being a slave is not sexy or powerful.

Being powerless is not sexy.

Being “trapped” is not sexy.

Being powerful is sexy.

The superstar professional basketball player athletes in the NBA had to be willing to boycott the NBA Playoffs and to refuse to play in the NBA if Sterling was allowed to maintain ownership of the Clippers basketball team in order to be able to maintain their swagger and sex appeal.

If the superstar professional basketball players were not willing to boycott the NBA women would think of those superstar athletes as being “slaves” – those superstar professional athletes would lose their aura of power, their sexual attraction would diminish, they would have lost their swagger and the desirability of being seen with them and/or identified with them would have disappeared.

People would think they were losers, instead of thinking they are super human beings – they would lose the aura of  “he-men-super-star winners if they didn’t act like the heroic-action-hero-men they are in the public’s imagination.

They had to act like their image, live up to their image, in order to keep their image.

They need to maintain that image in order to maintain their swagger and in order to increase their “drawing power.”

The National Basketball Association league, the TV stations that broadcast their games and the advertisers who had paid to have their advertisements shown during those games would be devastated if the play-offs didn’t happen.

The basket ball team owners’ in the NBA see the big economic picture.

Their decision on how to vote in an upcoming vote on whether to take the Clippers NBA league basketball team away Sterling’s right to own an NBA basketball team and to force Sterling to sell the Clippers is simple.

Major consumer goods advertisers have made it clear that they do not want to be associated with slavery.

Advertising revenue from TV contracts, revenue from collateral advertising contracts, revenue from endorsements and collateral merchandise contracts and a host of other gigantic cash flow big ticket money contracts were put on the line by the comments Donald Sterling made to his once upon a time “girl-friend” which were recorded then published on social media and afterwards in the the general media.

That revenue has been in jeopardy, has been on the line and  and has been in play since advertisers began fleeing from the Clippers, pulling their sponsorship from the Clippers and increased further when prominent black basketball players declared that there is no place for Donald Sterling in the NBA, Sterling must go.

The NBA as we know it would have been destroyed if the basketball players boycotted the playoffs. The NBA as we know it will be destroyed if black basketball players refuse to play in the NBA.

Business 101: Make It A Rule to Not Bore or Annoy Customers

From a marketing perspective, Donald Sterling is a genius.  By annoying “everyone” Donald Sterling has made himself “the man everyone loves to hate.”

Donald Sterling now gets more unpaid newspaper coverage and news media coverage that the President of the United States and the President of Russia, all as the result of Donald Sterling’s “annoying conduct.”

Meanwhile, the value of Donald Sterling’s basketball team, the Clippers, has gone from $12.5 million dollars when Donald Sterling bought the Clippers basketball team in 1981 to $2 billion dollars today.

Donald Sterling has made himself the most talked about person in the world and his “basketball team” (the Clippers) the most talked about enterprise in the world.

Donald Sterling’s annoying actions prompted some of the richest businessmen in the world to compete with each other for the “bragging rights” of being able to say they “own” the Clippers.

Donald Sterling has created a series of unique experiences/”shows” for all of us “spectators” to watch play-out by pro-actively disrupting the status quo.

Donald Sterling understands the “big picture” perfectly, is fully present living in the present moment, and has shown the rest of the world, through his annoying conduct, how to make money by disrupting the status quo by disrupting the status quo and by not following the standard business school rule, “don’t annoy your customers.”

Experiencing Success without Experiencing Fulfillment

It makes sense to choose the best role models to guide and inspire us towards the realization of our potential.

But recent lawsuits brought by professional football players against the National Football League (NFL) which cast professional football players as enslaved drugged workhorses tarnish the image of professional football players as heroes.

Recent print media, broadcast media and social media comments on profession sports make it clear that professional sports are such a big money maker for all involved that league matches are not games being played for “fun.”  They are business enterprises in which star athletes in some cases have sold their bodies and themselves into slavery to team owners.

In that regard, eight former professional football players (including legendary Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon sued the National Football League (NFL) on Tuesday, May 20, 2014, in a class action lawsuit.  In their lawsuit they claim they were injected with drugs hundreds or thousands of times to keep them on the field despite being injured and in great pain.  They were forced to ignore their medical condition, their medical histories and present physical injuries and ailments so that the business enterprises that “owned” them could make more money by having them play football instead of recuperate.

In their complaint they allege their stories are not unique and are part of a immoral reprehensible out-of-control money obsessed “culture of drug misuse, substituting players’ health for profit.”

Their lawyer has stated, “The NFL has made billions of dollars as a result of drug use that would be prohibited for horses.”

According to their class-action complaint the potential class of injured professional football players could stretch to 5,000 retired NFL players nationwide.

This lawsuit comes on the heels of a $765 million settlement between retired professional football players and the National Football League over head injuries suffered during their careers.  More than 4,800 professional football players joined in that lawsuit.

The case has been assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore in Oakland.  Dent et al v. National Football League, CV14-2324 (N.D. Cal., filed May 20, 2014).

The complaint accuses NFL doctors of giving opioids, localized anesthetics and excessive anti-inflammatory drugs to cover up players’ injuries regardless of the athlete’s medical history.

The complaint states that many of them became addicted to the prescription pills over their years of playing, sometimes turning to street dealers to feed their habit after leaving the league.

In short, professional football players sold their bodies; they made a lot of money. But, the daily quality of their lives, the flowering of their spirit and their ability to enjoy life was ruined by being drugged so that they could continue to “play” professional football while they were in injured and in great pain.

The tortured lives of the most severely damaged/ injured professional football players, in my opinion can be thought of as being equivalent to being buried alive and then living out the rest of you life moving around and breathing under ground in your own grave.

Shift of Consciousness

It is well known that people can get head injuries including traumatic brain concussions from playing football.

However, that has not stopped youths from  violently playing football in high school and college football leagues.

A national tracking systems for tracking brain injuries in youths is about to get off the ground at UCLA with $30 million from the National College Athletic Association, a new pledge of $25 million from the National Football League a a $10 million gift to UCLA from New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch.

It has been reported that Tisch’s donation will sustain and expand a UCLA program that since 2012 has treated 600 young patients with brain injuries and studied the after-effects of concussions in middle school, high school and college athletics.

Reports that concussions may set the stage for learning problems, mental health issues and even dementia have made some parents wary of allowing their children to play in organized sports.

According to the latest available figures about 250,000 people under the age of 19 were treated for concussions in 2009, up from 150,000 in 2001.

A NCAA survey of 15 college sports recently showed that between the 1988-89 and 2003-04 academic years, the overall rate of reported concussions doubled from 1.7 to 3,4 per 1,000 “athletic exposures.”

Privacy

Thanks to revelations about government snooping made by Edward Snowden and facts about Donald Sterling learned by listening to recorded private statements made by Donald Sterling to his girl-friend we now know that where there are cell phones there is no privacy or reasonable expectation of privacy.

In a recent interview conducted by Brian Williams, Edward Snowden revealed that smart phone can be accessed and used (like a camera, a microphone and an audio visual recording device) by governmental agencies to see and hear what people in its presence are doing and saying.

These revelations are a warning to be careful of what you say and do in private.

Think about your privacy before you speak.

Think before about your privacy before you act.

Think before you speak or act.

Orchestrate your life carefully.

Things are not going to settle down.

 

A One Woman Show About “Being in Tune with Life” Written and Performed by Joanna Tamases on December 21, 2013 at A Small Theatre on Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood, California, USA

Last Saturday night (December 21, 2013) I saw a one woman show written and performed by Jonna Tamases at the Lounge Theatre – a very small theater on Santa Monica Blvd., in Hollywood, California, USA.

The content and performance of Jonna’s show put to shame the more than 300 educational programs I have attended during the past 50 years.

In her show, Joanna plays a fictional character (Gisele) who has one accidental adventure after another.

Jonna plays Gisele so perfectly that the audience can’t tell the difference between Joanna and Gisele and as the show progresses the audience can’t tell the difference between themselves and Gisele or between themselves and the characters Gisele describes.

At the beginning of the play, Gisele tells the audience that she loves monks, then she tells the following story:

While a War Lord was riding his horse down a path, followed by a retinue of his soldiers, the War Lord saw a Monk walking down the same path towards him. 

The War Lord stopped and said to Monk: ‘Do you realize how much power I have? I could cut you in half with my sword without blinking an eye.”

The Monk replied: “Do you know how much power [mental strength and awareness of reality] I have?  I have the power to be cut in two by you while you are wielding your sword without blinking an eye.”

As the play continued, Jonna/Gisele told one moving story after another, each of which teach a powerful message.

At the end of the play, Gisele described a plane ride:

While sitting in her seat on a flight in a commercial aircraft, Gisele saw a bug walking on the window next to her seat.

First Gisele thought the bug was outside the plane.

Gisele was amazed that the bug had not been blown off the window while the jet was taking off or after the jet took off and became airborne.

After looking closer at the bug, Gisele realized the bug was inside the plane with her. Gisele asked a flight attendant for a napkin or doily.  The flight attendant assumed Gisele wanted to use the doily to squash the bug.

Gisele explained to the flight attendant that Gisele was going to use the doily to help Gisele capture the bug, Gisele was then going to put the bug in her empty bottle of water to keep the bug safe during the flight, then put the doily on top of the bottle so the bug couldn’t climb out or fly out of the bottle and that Gisele would take the bug to a park and set it free when the flight was over.

The flight attendant gave Gisele a doily.

Gisele caught the bug, put the bug in the bottle, and when Gisele arrived at her destination, she took the bug to a park and set it free.

As Gisele was setting the bug free, Gisele told the bug: ‘Now Voyager, sail forth to seek and find.’

Then the lights went out in the theater.

The audience stood up and clapped.

The play was over.

Everyone in the audience then ran over to congratulate Jonna and to talk to Jonna.

From the beginning to the end of her one woman show, Jonna/Gisele had nourished the audience with her teachings on how to live an aware life, in tune with life, how to live life the right way.

Jonna/Gisele shared with the audience what Gisele was thinking as Gisele told the stories Gisele told.

Jonna’s/Gisele’s cheerful actions on the stage while Gisele was telling her stories were delightful to watch.

Through the combination of story telling and acting Jonna/Gisele taught the audience:

• The reality of interdependence.
• It is important to be living in the present moment.
• That we are here now; therefore, the only moment to be alive is now.
• That every being matters, that everything is sacred.
• Through us,understanding, awareness and love can become tangible.
• If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can blossom like a flower.
• If we are happy and peaceful, we can share peace and happiness with others.
• We can make love, awareness and understanding into real things.
• Now and then, it is good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.

Attending Jonna’s show is an effective antidote to the social toxins you are surrounded by when you are surrounded by alienated, anxious, busy people addicted to their routines, when you are surrounded by people who put off “living” to the future. by people who put off “living” to after accomplishment of a “goal.”

Jonna’s show touches the audience in raw places because it is a reminder to be aware of the barrenness of a busy life.

Throughout the play, Gisele was always giving to others and getting joy from giving to others.  As a result, though matter what happened to her, Gisele was always cheerful, full of joy and had zest.

Watching what happens to Gisele, seeing how Gisele reacts to what is happening to her and listening to what Gisele is thinking as Gisele has one accidental adventure after another will make you confident that if you take control of your life, even in the midst of winter, you will find there is, within you, an invisible summer/a sunny disposition.

Jonna’s performance is a shout out to dig in to recover your own sovereignty if you have lost it, to have a lust for life if you have lost your lust for life, to recover your own kindness if you have lost your kindness, and to always be doing something that “gives” to others.

People who think deeply and who are aware of and understand the true nature of things realize there is more to life than increasing its speed.

They experience enormous tangible benefits by “living in the moment”, by taking control of their lives.

The take away from watching Joanna’s and Gisele’s performance in this play is:

• Don’t get so involved in tying to “make it” that you forget what life is about.
• While you still have the time, stop and savor each moment.
• You have to stop and savor each moment because each moment is precious.
• Although we make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
• Joanna cheerfully and peacefully teaches each one of us that we will get a lot of joy by giving a lot of joy.
• Jonna is on a crusade to make the world a more livable place to live.

The people you are surrounded by will never “live” if they put off living to the “future.”

Jonna’s play teaches that happiness depends upon ourselves.