His Zen Thing, Man

The itinerant 90's. I carried with me, from state to state, nation to nation, a copy of the Tao Te Ching. In hindsight it wasn't necessary, it was really one passage that hit home every time:

The Tao is like a bellows:
It is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
The more you talk of it, the less you understand.
Hold on to the center.

I take these words to heart, and consider them with the Gospel of John the finest examples of spiritual wisdom produced by our race. Because I'm qualified to make such assertions. Back off.

Something else on which I'm an authority, and I think readers will agree, is TRON. The main character in both films knows a little something about spiritual wisdom.

Zen hacker Kevin Flynn is unique in the annals of science fiction. Nowhere else can you find a guy so actively indifferent to his circumstances. Zapped into the computer? No problem. Improvise a solution and don't sweat the small stuff.

Trapped in the computer for twenty years? Pfft. Catch up on yoga. Grow a beard and wear white Zen-appropriate robes. Do the Yoda thing, man. Don't play by the so-called rules of the game and remove your self from the equation.

Of course, any resemblance to Jeff Lebowski is pure coincidence. Played by the same actor, true, but Jeff Bridges has played many kinds of dudes and Kevin Flynn just happens to be the top of the pig pile.

I went through my dude phases. I'm not an actor, in the theatrical sense. Usual stuff people do, stumbling around trying to grab onto something, anything that makes sense. Even came up with a word for myself: idiosyncretic. A funky portmanteau, I know. What do you expect from a blog called zeitheist? This is where language comes to be mangled. Like Stephen Hawking's theory of black holes, where information is sucked in and spit out in a state of violent rearrangement. That's this blog all over.

Idiosyncretic is what today people think of as the mashup, in spiritual rather than musical terms. Silly word, representative of piling up wisdom from every corner of every belief system you get your hands on. Sooner or later that pile starts to make sense and you realize that you own it. Takes some dude phases (and phrases) to do it, but you get there.

Anyhow.

Flynn takes it all in stride. Whatever misfortune falls his way, he goes with the flow. Chips are down, he leaps to do the right thing. "You're messing with my Zen thing, man," but he goes to it. Things calm down. Flynn goes back to meditating, to "knock on the sky and listen to the sound." Not many sci-fi heroes talk like that.

Knock on the sky and listen to the sound. Probably sounds like a pile of mixed-up something. That's what is so weird about Kevin Flynn: he's not trying to tell you what you want to hear, not like every other hero you encounter. How many of them talk in such a way it makes you think?

How many people talk like that?

Three More Days

On top of ending twenty-eight years of anticipation for the TRON sequel, what I'm looking forward to most this weekend is celebrating Thanksmas with family. My sister and cousin live in the Bay Area and I'll be flying down from Seattle to have a holiday celebration with them that is a little bit country, a little bit rock n' roll. Whatever it is, I can confidently say it won't be traditional. We're planning to gather at my cousin and her husband's lovely pad in Oakland and watch 70's kung fu movies whilst dining on delicacies -my cousin is an excellent cook and whatever we eat, it will be delicious. The best part is that none

of this was discussed in advance, it was automatically agreed upon.

With there being such a small number of us, the possibilities of a psychic network are not totally in the realm of fantasy; it doesn't hurt either that we've known each other since infancy. That kind of connection runs deep; it also apparently excites a deep-seated and irresistible desire for chop socky cinema.

In short, I've got a lot to look forward to this weekend -and so do you: an end to my TRON rantings! It is, after all, the Season of Miracles.

One Week!!!

13 Days and Counting

Look carefully at the right edge of this still frame from TRON. Can you see what Mr Red Antenna sees? Here's a hint: he's yellow and lives on a steady diet of ghosts.

I've always thought this is one of the more unique cameos in film history. In 1982, when TRON came out, it was definitely not cool to be a geek, not like it is now, what with the booming popularity of The Big Bang Theory and so on. Little inserts of geek culture like this were few, if they occurred at all. Part of the abiding charm of that year for a science fiction fan. It was the year that every month brought a new classic of the genre. Blade Runner, the second Star Trek movie, E.T., Poltergeist, The Road Warrior, The Thing... a seminal year for geekdom, without a doubt.

We're watching an odd double bill today, TRON and Die Hard. Originally just intending to watch the one, when word got out that one of the gal's friends has never seen the greatest christmas action movie of them all, we decided to double down. Should be fun. We'll watch 40 Stories of Sheer Adventure (Die Hard's tagline), break for an intermission supper and then fire up TRON himself, which nobody present will have seen before; or if they did, it was long ago and is now a distant, barely perceptible memory.

That's why I'm here: to create good memories.

Legacy vs Lebowski

What's Your Definition of Cool? My attempt at machinima polemic tackles the timeless question:

24 Days and Counting

This early effort at TRON getups is amusing and I'm so very grateful they went with something else (though some might question the aesthetic sensibility of frisbees with bike helmets). Our hero wants to play keyboard in Duran Duran, while Yori has this cyber-Pocahantas vibe going that might play well at the Renaissance Fair.

I used a website to tweak the image for my Facebook profile, but they call it Obama-izing the image. Obama-izing. That doesn't sound natural or right. And for such a brutal neologism, totally inaccurate as well. You can sanitize, patronize, and weaponize, but Obama-ize? Change your birthplace to Hawai'i and we can talk. Awful, vile word. The President should be ashamed.

26 Days and Counting

-and tomorrow begins 25 days of Tronmas. I'm really milking this, aren't I? You bet your grain-fed Holstein, I am. And speaking of cash cows, see if you can peep one in the still below:

Clever programmers, eh? Then again, Disney has always been at the forefront of animation and Mickey Mouse serves as herald of the future in TRON just as he did in Steamboat Willy. Stay tuned for more hidden prizes like this in weeks to come, as the countdown continues for TRON:Legacy.

I've already laid out what I'm looking forward to in the sequel, and since posting that, though in a more sober frame of mind, there's been even further ruminating on the subject. Just yesterday it hit me that, with all the videos and articles I've scoured about TRON:Legacy, I know too much about the blasted movie; too much, that is, in relation to your average moviegoer, who'd prefer I think going into the theater knowing as little as possible. Not this guy. When it comes to spoilers, I'm pure teflon. They bounce right off. Additionally, with such a long gestation period as this sequel has had, I've no doubt there will be surprises a'plenty when opening day arrives.

My expectations, contrary to how it must appear, are actually quite low. Why, you might ask, gush so frequently about something that in any reasonable estimation is certain to be another bad sequel? Excellent question, and one to which (you saw this coming) I have an answer. A well-rehearsed reply, I might add, that hopefully doesn't sound too defensive. Because I don't care if the movie is good or bad, it could be pure trash and I'll still be glad I put down my coin (yes, I've had my ticket for over a month now); the simple fact that a sequel to my favorite film exists and was made with full participation of the folks who made the original is sufficient cause to get my heart racing with anticipation.

Okay, that was totally defensive. Apologies. I've got a chip on my shoulder, what can I say.

Anyhow, you'll only have to put up with my TRON froth a bit longer. Meanwhile I've got my eye on the prize that's less than a month away, and counting....

30 Days and Counting

Twenty eight years later, my anticipation of the sequel to TRON is reaching a fever pitch. It's ridiculous, I know. When has a decent sequel come so long after? This could be The Phantom Menace Redux -but who wants to be negative?

Asked what I'm looking forward to most in TRON: Legacy, some reflection was needed. Great visuals, sure, and sound design; the soundtrack by Daft Punk hopefully won't be some ear-scorching techno hybrid. These leapt to mind, then I started thinking about Yori and had my answer.

Our man Tron had a girlfriend in the original film. People forget. Her name was Yori, and Tron saved her from a soulless existence of solar sailer customer support. Good god, what a fate. He even kissed her, very un-PC. That's got to be a gateway drug in the antiseptic, analog world of programs that could develop into all kinds of drama. So, obviously we have to wonder what Tron and Yori have been up to all these years.

Well, obvious to me, at least.

33 Days Till TRON: Legacy!