AUDIO VERSION
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On this episode, I've put together an audio blog where you follow me around for a day. I also have quick TV/Movie reviews of:
- GLOW season 2
- Incredibles 2
- Luke Cage season 2
- Another look at Star Wars: The Last Jedi
There are spoilers!
Finally I discuss two quotes from recent audiobooks/podcasts I've listened to which had an impact on me. They come from Robin Sharma and Eckhart Tolle.
Quick Reviews
Incredibles 2 review-
This movie was wonderful. I felt there was too much focus on Jack-Jack. Not much on Dash. The action in the film was much more dynamic than I expected. Collider Video late last year had a top 50 superhero movies of all time. They ranked the first film movie 7th overall. When I saw this, I said 'What?!' But after viewing the sequel, I appreciate the first one a lot more. These films are fun and heartwarming. I want more with these characters and this world. I love how unique each character looks particularly Rick Dicker played by Jonathan Banks of Breaking Bad fame. Dicker even looks like Banks.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi-3rd viewing observations
The Last Jedi is now available on Netflix. You can find my original review (with friends) here
https://bit.ly/2rxJkHg . This is my 3rd viewing of this movie. I'm still breaking it down and trying to figure out why it's so polarizing to fans. Here are some observations.
-Poe Dameron shows no sympathy for the troops which die because of his actions at the beginning of the film.
-Luke plays a crazy old master Jedi who will train a young apprentice, similar to Yoda and Luke in Empire Strikes Back
-Rey feels she can turn Kylo Ren towards the light side, comparable with Luke and Vader in Return of the Jedi
-Rey has a gun turret action sequence in the Millenium Falcon, similar to Han in the Star Wars: A New Hope.
This film series has light, fun entries, and dark ones. In the dark category I'd throw in Revenge of the Sith, Empire Strikes Back, and this one.
Luke Cage Season 2 review-Pros & Cons
Pros
-The show was well paced as opposed to the first season which ended(I felt)a few episodes early.
-Bushmaster. Great presence and fighting style. Great backstory. Look forward to seeing him again in future seasons
-Episode 10. Loved seeing Luke Cage & Iron Fist in an episode together. I'm ready for a six-episode season of Heroes for Hire. Throw in the Daughters of the Dragon in that mini-series too.
-I liked that this season acknowledged the events of the Defenders.
-The characters in the show were great. Alfre Woodard. This is her show. Theo Rossi is incredible as well. Sahr Ngaujah as Anansi always has a presence when he's on screen. I saw him in Fela on Broadway; he was tremendous there. Reg E. Cathey is always solid, may he r.i.p. Chaz Lamar Shephard as Piranha Jones was funny. Antonique Smith as Nandi was dislikeable. Superlative job by all mentioned.
Cons
-This show shouldn't be called 'Luke Cage. It should be called 'Mariah Stokes.' She has more screen time than the hero. It's like seeing a Transformers movie. The film series carries the name of the robot race in the title, but the majority of the films are humans running around.
-As I said earlier, this season had a better pace than the first, but I felt it was still too long.
-Tilda Dillard was beautiful, but I wasn't blown away by her performance.
Glow season 2 review
-This was Betty Gilpin's season. She presented several shades of this character; Debbie Eagan. Going through a divorce, becoming a producer on the show, being a mother, hashing out her issues with Ruth Wilder(Allison Brie). We go from rooting for her to sympathizing with her, and plain disliking her. Her smile is terrible as well. Wonderful work.
-We spent more time with characters which we didn't in the first season like Arthie and the new castmate Yolanda who was sexy and fun. I also like Marc Maron warming up to Allison Brie and building more of a relationship with his daughter Justine.
-Allison Brie is the heart of this show. I can't believe how much shit she takes from Betty Gilpin and Marc Maron at the beginning of the season. I enjoyed her taking more of a creative role in the show and finding a love interest.
-The runtime and number of episodes are palatable. It left me wanting more. The Netflix Marvel shows should take the similar format.
-My only complaint is that the comedy didn't always land with me. Whereas the first season I had more laughs, this season I didn't.
This is one of my favorite original Netflix shows. I want more. Bring on season 3.
Two Recent Audio Quotes which Impacted Me
These are two recent pieces of audio that made me think. I want to apply these teachings in my own life. The first one is from Robin Sharma. On his Youtube channel, he has a video called 'How to Fearlessly Speak your Opinion.' Here is a link to the video
https://bit.ly/2uuOnr2. The direct section which impacted me is this here:
'A lot of people ask me when I meet them at a live event, or maybe it's online, Robin, I want to speak my truth, but something prevents me from doing it. Maybe it's at the office. Maybe it's in your intimate relationship; maybe it's with your family. I don't know where it is for you, but I wanted to make sure I offered you some valuable insights to help you speak your truth even when your voice shakes.'
'Because ultimately, one of the ways that we can develop self-respect, and one of the ways that you can build self-worth, is speaking your opinion and sharing what's important to you and putting a voice to what you need to say, even if people don't understand you or also if people don't like it.'
'I think it was Dr. Seuss who said, speak authentically. Be real. Be yourself. Share your opinions. And here was his line: "Because those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."
'And there's a lot of wisdom if you wanted to deconstruct that idea of Dr. Seuss. It's pretty powerful because ultimately, I believe you can say whatever you need to say, so long as you say it with respect. And so if it's with your intimate partner, and there's something that's bothering you, but you want to say it ... First of all, when you say it, it's like you release a pressure valve. You know what most people do in any relationship, they swallow what they need to say, even though it's incredibly important to them. And here's what that does in your professional associations and your relationships.'
'Every time you swallow something you know you needed to say so that you're clear, it builds up. It builds up emotionally. It builds up psychically, and it eventually, that pressure builds up, and finally, it will come out in conflict. It happens at the office. There's a teammate, and you don't say something.
Well, here's what bothers me or here's what I need to say, or here was my opinion. Over time, the wound will fester, and it will damage the relationship.'
'And I've seen it so often in home relationships, in personal relationships. A little thing that could have been handled like, "I didn't like the way that you said that to me," or "I wanted to go to do this on the weekend but you wanted to do that, and I didn't feel heard." And rather than just saying it, because most of us don't know how to say it, they don't teach us how to communicate at world class in school; we swallow it because human beings don't like conflict.'
'Because we're tribal, and I don't want to get into the neuroscience and the psychology of tribalism, but we're tribal. That's how we survived thousands of years ago. And so now we do have an instinct hardwired into us, not to have conflict, because we want to fit into the tribe to survive. But if you don't speak your truth, when you know you need to share your opinion, well, you swallow the words. You take the emotions.'
'And here's what it does. It not only then damages the working relationship or the personal relationship. Here is the powerful insight. It hurts your relationship with yourself. And I think in many ways, all lack of success and creativity and productivity in someone's life, comes down to a lack of self-worth.'
'One of the best things you can learn how to do is learn how to honor yourself. Learn how to build self-worth. Learn how to build self-respect. Learn how to build self-love. And one of the best ways to do that is to speak your truth even when the fire is on. '
Hearing this was like a shining light in the dark. How many nights I'd lay awake in bed thinking for hours how a particular co-worker(or friend) may have rubbed me the wrong way. How I can get revenge, make them feel how I'm feeling at the time. Had I used Mr. Sharma's method I could've used that mental energy elsewhere. I love the self-care angle in his message. I interpret as it being vital in getting the unsaid, the resentment out of you. By talking to the individual directly. I found speaking to a confidant or journaling helps as well.
The second quote is from an audiobook. Eckhart Tolle's 'Power Of Now.' I also purchased the book as I'm hoping to read through it, highlight other sections and go over them. This is pulled from Chapter 8.
'I always thought that true enlightenment is not possible except through love in a relationship between a man and a woman. Isn't this what makes us whole again? How can one's life be fulfilled until that happens?'
'Is that true in your experience? Has this happened to you?'
'Not yet, but how could it be otherwise? I know that it will happen.'
'In other words, you are waiting for an event in time to save you. Is this not the core error that we have been talking about? Salvation is not elsewhere in place or time. It is here and now.'
'What does that statement mean, "Salvation is here and now?" I don't understand it. I don't even know what salvation means.'
'Most people pursue physical pleasures or various forms of psychological gratification because they believe that those things will make them happy or free them from a feeling of fear or lack.'
'Happiness may be perceived as a heightened sense of aliveness attained through physical pleasure or a more secure and more complete sense of self-attained through some form of psychological gratification. This is the search for salvation from a state of unsatisfactoriness or insufficiency. Invariably, any satisfaction that they obtain is short-lived, so the condition of happiness or fulfillment is usually projected once again onto an imaginary point away from the here and now.'
"When I obtain this or I'm free of that, then I will be okay." This is the unconscious mindset that creates the illusion of salvation in the future.'
'True salvation is fulfillment, peace, life in all its fullness. It is to be who you are, to feel within you the good that has no opposite, the joy of being that depends on nothing outside itself. It is perceived not as a moving experience, but as an abiding presence.'
'In theistic language, it is to know God not as something outside you, but as your innermost essence. True salvation is to identify yourself as an inseparable part of the timeless and formless One Life from which all that exists derives its being.'
'True salvation is a state of freedom from fear, from suffering, from a perceived state of lack and insufficiency and, therefore, from all wanting, needing, grasping, and clinging. It is freedom from compulsive thinking, from negativity and, above all, from past and future as a psychological need.'
'Your mind is telling you that you cannot get there from here. Something needs to happen, or you need to become this or that before you can be free and fulfilled. It is saying, in fact, that you need time, that you need to find, sort out, do, achieve, acquire, become or understand something before you can be free or complete.'
'You see time as the means to salvation, whereas, in truth, it is the most significant obstacle to salvation. You think that you can't get there from where and who you are at this moment because you are not yet complete or good enough, but the truth is that here and now is the only point from where you can get there. You get there by realizing that you are there already.'
'You find God the moment you realize that you don't need to seek God, so there's no "only way" to salvation. Any condition can be used, but no particular state is necessary. However, there is only one point of access, the now. There can be no salvation away from this moment.'
Being good enough right now. Not waiting for a person, or buying a thing, to get to where you want to go. I've gone down that route many times where I felt that if I purchased these clothes or this camera or this drone, THEN I will matter. So sad to reflect and acknowledge that being the case. We must go through the journey to reach the destination right?
I do have a slight counter to this point. If there is a skill you want to improve, focusing on that skill and being around a community which nurtures it, will enhance your ability in that area even quicker. But that spark, the vision, the drive resides within us. We light that flame. It all begins with a decision.
Listening to audio is my weapon of choice when it comes to education.
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