Koyaanisqatsi

While this extraordinary movie was made in 1982, little has changed except the advance of technology.   However, I disagree with its overall tone of "civilization is bad, only "Nature" is good."

I am also disappointed in that they only show America as the "life out of balance."  The abject poverty of India, China and the effects of Communism on Russia, etc. show a much more devastating Koyannisqatis than is present in this country.  Although the film shows Blacks living in ghettos and ruin, as if this were the only thing available to them,  it only takes a moment to realize that Blacks are unable to sustain the quality of life presented to them, and their current joblessness and lack of housing is self perpetuating.   Drugs, gangs, dropping out of school and resentment of White achievement are self induced and no amount of gifted opportunities and housing will change it.

If nature is only represented by the endless, arid Arizona desert, then you can keep it.  I know that real balance is only accessed by inner contemplation, meditation and the like.  Whether you run barefoot on the beach in rags or meditate in your 40 story penthouse, we can all achieve a balanced life if we work at it.   Our 21st Century civilization has more medicine, education, clean and cheap energy, water, food and comfort than at any other time in history.    While we all know of the devastation of atomic bombs and wars, Man has always been at war with himself and others.  However, this is the exception, not the rule.  Our lives of health, safety and comfort far outweigh anything else.

All civilizations come to an end and we are no exception.   Whether war or natural catastrophe or asteroids from space destroy us, we can only live the best life we can in the here and now.  Koyaanisqatsi, or a life out of balance has always been part of the game.

Lost Colony of Roanoke Found?

By Jean Bush

New research and discoveries, presented by the History Channel, give up tantalizing clues the the mystery of the Lost Colonists and Virginia Dare.

This stone, discovered around 1937, appears to be a message from Elenor Dare, Virginia's mother, to her father, Gov White, who left the colony to get more supplies from England.

Other stones were "found" but turned out to be a hoax.

Other videos from the History Channel are along the right side of this one if you go to Youtube.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131208-roanoke-lost-colony-discovery-history-raleigh/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150807-lost-colony-roanoke-hatteras-outer-banks-archaeology/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3654132/Artifacts-linked-Lost-Colony.html

As new technology digs deeper into our long and ancient history, we come better able to understand where and who we come from and why.

Michael Jackson: The Chaos of Perfection

by Jean Bush

Michael Jackson died has he had lived, talented, mysterious, freakish and very public.

Arriving in 1958 into a multi-talented musical family, Michael was born to sing. He had his first performance at a Christmas recital at the age of five. At age 11, he performed with his family and became one of the lead vocalists with the Jackson 5.

From there his talent soared and in 1984 did his first video, Thriller, which went off the charts and remains today the best selling album of all time. Although he had several more successful albums and videos over the years, the public saw his talent, as well as his appearance, deteriorate into chaos.

If you will look at the album cover of Thriller, you will see a young man at the peak of his perfection. Lit from behind, Jackson glows with beauty. His hair is matted tightly into a riot of ringlets, his skin the color of rich, creamed coffee. His eyes are full of mystery and, it seems, a little sadness, as if wondering where to go from here. He wears a white suit and black shirt, giving him a look of timeless elegance. He is truly is who he is meant to be.

But over the years, endless plastic surgeries left him with a boned hardness to his face, and a nose that eventually collapsed, necessitating even more surgery to correct massive breathing problems that plagued his later career. Starting in the early 1980’s, Jackson’s skin began to change and lose color and he was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus. Vitiligo causes a depigmentaton of certain areas of the skin, including the face, neck and hands. It has been said that medical treatments for this also contributed to his increasing paleness. Some professionals speculated that he also suffered from body dysmorphic disorder, in which the sufferer has no idea of how they are perceived by others. If so, his constantly changing appearance showed that he no longer seemed to know who he was, and the exquisite golden youth turned into an unknowable, haunted aging man.

What ever the true facts of his condition, he began exhibiting bizarre behaviors, spending millions of dollars on his Neverland estate, endless shopping sprees, a badly kept zoo, and three unworkable marriages. Over time, with various lawsuits against him and allegations of sexual child abuse, his heath deteriorated along with his talent. He was finally left with millions in debt.

Only 50 years old when he died, apparently of a drug overdose, he seemed to have lived a lifetime in search of that perfection he held for a moment in his hands. Instead of looking to himself, he is looking at the camera, and thus, his audience, never noticing the pursuit of chaos behind him and the unmanageability of public adoration and futility of attempts to satisfy everyone but himself.

Perhaps there is a lesson here for all of us. Do you think?