Music Video Monday: Bruce Springsteen

In honour of last week's Bruce Springsteen Eucharist, this week's music video is his "Dancing in the Dark," which ranks up there as one of my favourite songs by him. I was quite surprised when it was one of the song selections for the Eucharist, as the song has some veiled references to activities that are likely to happen after a hot Saturday night date, rather than a message that is appropriate for church. But, its inclusion in the Eucharist shows me how daring the Trinity Episcopal Church is to bring their ministry into the modern world. Churches shouldn't shy away from popular culture, because that's the reality of our society.

This video is now best known for being the first appearance of actress Courtney Cox (who played Monica on the hit 1990s sitcom Friends). She's the cute young lady who is pulled up on stage to dance with The Boss. I think she looks better with short hair. I wonder if her appearing in a Springsteen video set her off on a Hollywood career. These days, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of reality-show alumni who hope to parlay their screen time into a longer and more successful career. Fame is a dime a dozen these days. Its hard to believe that video is now 25 years old. Bruce Springsteen was my favourite male singer in 1985. His music dominated the airwaves in 1984-1985. I'm glad that he's still making good music, though I much prefer his stuff with the E Street Band than his folksy, Dylanesque albums.

Here's hoping that you're not dancing in the dark!

Scandals Galore

What is this...scandal month? Yikes! The organization that I work for is currently on trial for an event that happened a quarter-century ago. The local paper published an article in Wednesday's edition. It was top-center, above the fold. The opening sentence revealed an unfair bias against the organization. Then, on Friday afternoon, I was shocked to discover that the Huffington Post has published an even more biased article, with inflammatory accusations. I'm not allowed to discuss the issue with anyone, lest I want to face a subpoena to appear in court, but I did want to bring it to the attention of my friends and regular readers of my blog. Most who know me, know exactly what my opinions about this organization are. I haven't been actively pursuing another job for three years because I love this place. Its hard to work in a place where the politics goes against my own personal code.

Because I'm the low man on the totem pole, I have little power or sway with what this organization does. All I ever wanted since January 2007 was a new job that will take me out of here and in a better office environment. But, the lawsuit has nothing to do with the actual office politics. Someday, I may write a book about what really goes on in this organization...but I want to be long gone from here before I do that. I've said before and I'll say it again...since I moved to Portland in 2006, its like I'm experiencing bad deja vu of every negative experience I hated the first time around. I can't believe that once again, I'm in an organization that is in the spotlight of negative publicity. I swore after the last one that I would pick a better place to work. In reading the articles in the local paper and on the Huffington Post, once again, I'm reminded of the fact that although I get scorn for my liberal political and spiritual views, my personal conservative values once again trumps the morality of the so-called conservatives I work with. This was true in the Navy, as well. And come to think of it, the Navy had its own sex scandal when I was a sailor (1991's Tailhook Scandal). I really do feel like Forrest Gump: an innocent bystander with a front seat to the intense media spotlight.

Is politics any better, though? The past few weeks have been a field day for comedian Jay Leno. Each night for the past couple weeks, Jay has joked about Congressman Massa and Toyota. Maybe both should do the other a favour. The Toyota Corporation should give the Congressman a free Toyota Prius to drive away from D.C. in. He probably can't get away from there fast enough!

Who is Congressman Eric Massa? Well, I'm not going to be like the Fox News Corporation and change his party affiliation because of his embarrassing scandal. He is a Democratic Congressman from a district in New York state. He's also a veteran of the United States Navy. A few weeks ago, news broke that Congressman Massa was named in a sexual harassment suit for allegedly groping his male staffers. He resigned his office for "health reasons." In the drip-drip-drip of scandal, we learned that Massa claims that he merely liked to "tickle" his male staffers, as though it is part of male bonding culture (I can attest that hitting or making fun of each other is part of male bonding culture, but not "tickling"). News reports dug up his prior history and revealed that as an officer in the Navy, he also engaged in inappropriate touching of underlings. He even has a special technique he calls "the Massa Massage."

Uh-oh! When I was in the Navy, I always freaked out when a guy started mentioning wanting a massage. I would always refer them to a special bulletin board where massage therapists advertised their business. Usually, it was women offering massages on these bulletin boards. I wasn't about to give another man a massage. Perhaps a part of me (I was kind of naive back then) knew that a sailor talking about wanting a massage was a code word for something else.

Even worse, the reason why I dislike being around drunk people is because of the lack of inhibitions. There have been a few drunken higher ranking men who have touched me inappropriately at parties. I lost respect for them at that moment and stayed clear of them at work. To this day, its probably the reason why I do not trust ultra conservative men at all, especially the ones who make a big noise about their homophobia. Chances are likely, when drunk, they act inappropriately to subordinates. In other words, I knew khaki uniformed personnel like Congressman Massa when I was in the Navy. What pisses me off is that alcohol is used as an excuse to deny what they did. These people do not belong in any kind of power. If you lose your moral standing, you should lose your leadership position as well. Someone has to be the janitors of society. Why not make these power abusers do the honest work of cleaning up shit-clogged toilets for the rest of their working lives? Positions of power should only go to the virtuous. Reward good behaviour, not sweep bad behaviour under some carpet in the hopes that no one discovers it.

Last week, Saturday Night Live had a field day with Congressman Massa. In one scene, they forever ruined the word "snorkling" for me. Apparently, Massa had a creative vocabulary. To him, "snorkling" means something quite different than being underwater in SCUBA gear.

Republicans have also enjoyed reporting this scandal, because for once, its not one of their party members caught in an embarrassing act of hypocrisy. Fox News Corporation does not have to change the party affiliation indicator for Massa as they did for Governor Sanford, Senator Larry Craig, and Congressman Mark Foley. Glenn Beck even had Massa on the show, but after talking with the Congressman, realized that something wasn't right in the head with Massa, so he actually apologized for wasting his viewers time! Damn, if Glenn Beck thinks you're batshit crazy, what hope is there for you?

My question is...where did the Democrats find this piece of work? And what possessed the guy to run for political office anyway? His dysfunctional unprofessionalism followed him from his Navy days into the hallowed halls of Congress. What a shame. Fortunately the Democratic Party is not like the Republican Party. The Republicans facing scandals stay in office until the voters throw them out. At least Massa had the good sense to resign his office for the good of the people he represented. They deserve a better representative in Congress, whether Republican or Democrat. Good riddance, Massa. No low wage staffer on Capitol Hill should have to put up with the abusive behaviour of the politician they work for.

Finally, there's Sandra Bullock. America's Sweetheart. This year's Best Actress Oscar winner. Tabloids have revealed that her bad boy husband Jesse James had been having an affair with a tattooed lady for months while Bullock was filming The Blind Side. In response, Bullock moved out of the home she shared with James and his children from his first marriage (his previous wife was a porn star). She also cancelled public appearances in Great Britain for this weekend's theatrical release of her Oscar-winning movie.

The amazing thing about this bombshell revelation is that on Oscar night, James was looking like the proud husband supporting his wife at the height of her career success. Reporters gushed about how much in love they looked and what a great relationship they had. I was never convinced about that. When I first heard about Sandra marrying a tattooed, motorcycle driving ex-husband of a porn actress, I couldn't believe it. Why was she "slumming" it? Once again, its another case of an intelligent and successful woman falling for a bad boy. What is this power that bad boys have on beautiful and intelligent women? I don't get it. It pisses me off, quite frankly. I can't think of any example where a lady is able to transform a bad boy into being a happily domesticated, loyal, and faithful husband. Usually, it turns out that the woman ends up abused, murdered, or humiliated. Do Whitney Houston, Nicole Brown Simpson, Rihanna, Mrs. Tiger Woods, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Mrs. Eliot Spitzer ring a bell?

A week or so ago, I saw Sandra Bullock on the Charlie Rose Show. She was intelligent, funny, and sweet. In fact, she is exactly the kind of lady I always fall for. She has an international background and diverse interests (I learned that her passionate hobby is buying and restoring old homes in the San Antonio / Austin TX area). She also has a terrific sense of humour. So why does such an intelligent and successful woman end up marrying such a jerk? Its the billion dollar question that I'd like to know the answer to, though I already have my theory.

There's a reason why so many women loved Avatar. The "bad boy" gives up his entire human race and his culture for the love of a Na'vi woman. For years, women have been subjugated as second class citizens with no power to change society. Women's natural role was the raising of children, while men went off to dominate the world. Because women have the power to deny men the sex we crave, this is where the power play happens. This is not any new revelation or sexist remark. The ancient Greeks even had a play about what happens when the women of Athens decide to refuse their husbands sex until they end the war (Lysistrata). Perhaps that was the birthdate of homosexuality. Who knows? Ancient Greek men seemed to screw anything that moved. Congressman Massa was born in the wrong era!

My theory is that the reason why so many intelligent women fall for the bad boy is because of the fairy tale fantasy that they have the power within them to transform and domesticate men by the force of their love. It makes for a nice fairy tale, but it could be quite dangerous. In reality, it often does not happen that way. Most women in relationships with bad boys get the shit kicked out of them, or they are humiliated time and again. Is "make-up sex" really that great to endure the physical abuse and humiliation? Women pride themselves on being more thoughtful and maybe even smarter than men, but I often fail to see it whenever I see or hear about an intelligent woman that I'm naturally attracted to falling for a bad boy. Nice guys might be "boring" because you don't have the intense physical fights and prospect of real danger, but we are far healthier for you in the long run.

Besides, what's sexier than an intellectually stimulating conversation and shared interests in some hobbies? It breaks my heart to see intelligent women falling for guys who don't respect them. I think Jesse James might even be threatened by his wife's success. Many successful women seem to have a hard time finding a man who isn't jealous that they make more money or are more successful. Maybe that's why they love to get smacked around or cheated on. A small part of them feels like they deserve it for being more successful than their man.

Get with a liberated man, Sandra! In case you're interested, I'm available and I've had a crush on you ever since I saw Speed in 1994. The most successful Hollywood marriages seem to be the ones where the famous person has a non-famous spouse who doesn't desire fame. Speed away, Sandra! Buy a Toyota Prius if you have to so you can get the hell away from your lyin', cheatin', bad boy husband. You deserve better! You deserve a guy like me.

Flashback Friday: Navy Basic Training

Its hard to believe, but nineteen years ago today, I was a skinny, wide-eyed innocent 19 year old on my way to Basic Training in Orlando, Florida. Nineteen years!!! Where does the time go? From my perspective, the first nineteen years seemed to take forever, but the second nineteen years have flashed before my eyes...slowly at first, but steadily gaining momentum as time sped up in the past few years. The photo above is from two pages in the special journal I kept for the Basic Training experience. I'm very glad that I maintained my memories within the pages of that journal so I can "re-live" the experience whenever I want to.

I was very nervous about going off to Basic Training. For one thing, I never saw myself in the military. I had enlisted mostly to get away from home and experience the world. At the Military Enlistment Processing Station (MEPS) in downtown Atlanta, the bored bureaucratic lady had selected me as the guy to handle all the tickets for the small group of about 8 people going to Navy Basic Training in Orlando, Florida. She picked my name because my last name was ahead of everyone else's in the group. It didn't take long for her to figure out that I had no leadership skill. She even asked me in front of everyone if I was able to handle the responsibility! I said that I was, but I basically gave everyone their plane ticket and folder of entrance paperwork.

Off we went, escorted by some military personnel from the MEPS station in downtown Atlanta to the MARTA station to catch the subway to the airport. As we walked downtown, some homeless men stared at us, one asking another, "Who are those people?" The other responded, "Oh, they're going off to boot camp." Then the homeless men laughed at us! We fools. Giving up our freedoms, the kind of freedom they enjoyed.

The flight was an hour long. Not nearly enough time to enjoy a cup of Coca-Cola. We arrived late at night in Orlando. Saw many tourists destined for the Disney theme parks and wanted to run off with them. All was quiet on our van ride to the Naval Training Center. As soon as we cleared the front gate, I saw a small group of guys in dungarees marching to cadence and liked it immediately. The cadence, that is.

In the months between my enlisting (June 19, 1990) and my going off to Basic Training (March 19, 1991), I had read books about the letters soldiers sent home from Vietnam, read a play set in Basic Training (Biloxi Blues) and watched the film version, read a book about life aboard an aircraft carrier (the USS John F. Kennedy), exercised, asked my father and uncle about their basic training experiences (my fundamentalist uncle's simple word of advice: "don't drop the soap!" Har har), and staring endlessly at the pages of the thin Navy-published pamphlet about what to expect at Basic Training. I think I memorized the entire thing. The photos are burned into my long term memory.

My biggest concern about Basic Training was hazing and the communal shower (not that I expected anyone to try anything like my uncle had inferred, but that I like privacy). After I had been at Basic Training for a couple weeks, my biggest concern was getting set back in training. It was always sad to see fellow company mates leave for a company behind us in the training. Our company also received recruits who were set back in their training and they had a hard time fitting in, because our company pretty much bonded in the first two weeks of training. I was one of the rare recruits who made friends with the new guys, because it wasn't easy for them to go to a new company. You really want to finish training with the company you started with on day one. After my training was completed and I returned home for a brief vacation, I learned that my parents thought I might not make it through Basic Training. My mom, especially, thought I was much too individualistic to last.

I have no idea how much my several months of mental preparation helped me, but I would probably say that it helped A LOT. I knew going in that the Company Commanders (the Navy term for "Drill Sergeant") would play mind games on the company, creating conflict between recruits. Its such a classic tactic, particularly selecting a scapegoat to pay for the mess ups of another recruit. This happened quite often and I was amazed when a few guys would fall for it, getting angry at the recruit who messed up. Even I was made an example of, where another guy had to pay for my mistakes. I got yelled at for not shaving (I hardly had any hair on my face to shave...but in the water, a Company Commander could see those "invisible" hairs on the side of my jaw that I failed to see during the morning routine). I was also called a quitter for being unable to maintain the up "push-up" position for a long period. No one calls me "quitter"! That is one term no one can ever accuse me of being. I don't quit.

One of the things I learned in Basic Training was that you definitely do not want to stand out from the crowd. Keep a low and quiet profile. Its only 9 weeks long, so it was not a big deal for me to keep my ego in check. I did have a few conflicts because some guys tried to pick a fight with me. They ended up getting surprised when I outwitted them and emerged victorious. I'm generally a live and let live kind of guy and don't seek conflict with others, thus its always a surprise when people try to pick a fight with me. Most who have only learned to regret it. In Basic Training, I undermined the authority of two recruits who were selected to be the Section Leader for my section (our company started with 78 men and if I remember correctly, we were divided into six or eight sections). Another guy tried to pick a fight with me one day and was shocked when I responded by yelling a bunch of obscenities in his face. He never messed with me again. Another guy couldn't stop touching me, so with one smart alecky comment of a derogatory word ("faggot"), the label stuck to him for the rest of our time at Basic Training (poor guy...I'm sure that he wasn't, but who really knows?).

Most of all, though, I loved Basic Training. In fact, to this day, I still consider it the greatest experience of my life. I know that always shocks people whenever I say that, but its true. It was the first time in my life where I was known for me and me alone. Because I had a brother who's 14 months older than me but in the same grade / graduating class, I had to endure the "twin" label and often was made to feel like I was half a person. This was a terrible burden for an individualistic guy like me to have to live with for the first 18 years of my life. In Basic Training, though, I was in a fraternity of 78 guys and every single one of them got to know me for me alone. They either liked me or not based on my personality and I never had to hear people talk or ask about my brother. It was a liberating experience. I also loved the marching and the cadence. The last few weeks were especially great, because we knew we were leaving soon and we had more freedom to go places alone (with a special pass, of course) rather than among the group.

The above photo is of the barracks we lived in. My company (C093) was on the second floor. The building had four wings with a central building that held offices. Each floor had one large room aligned with bunk beds, a small office for the Company Commanders, a classroom, and the bathroom with two shower trees (where it was expected that 40 men would shower at the same time), about six toilets with no door in front (there were walls between each toilet, though), and a bank of sinks in front of a long mirror. That was home for nine weeks. We had to clean it every night before bed. I usually got out of it by volunteering to clean the offices of the central building. This allowed me to meet people in other companies, particularly the female companies. That was always nice!

Each company had to create their own flag. This design was our front side. I had no involvement in this planning or painting, though I was known as one of the artistically minded people (the guys saw the cover drawing of my Boot Camp journal). I declined for reasons I don't even remember.

This was the reverse side of the flag. We didn't vote on it, thus I have no idea who thought of it. The title "The Bonehead Club" came from what one of the Company Commanders called us. Probably not very original. But I did like the Company flag idea.

Out of the eight or so guys who came with me from MEPS Atlanta, I think only two other guys finished with the company (besides me). One of the guys was an older guy who didn't like me very much. He started a trend during our "work week" (when our company had to spend ten days of training doing nothing but working in the galley for 18 hours each day). He sang a song he created for his job (telling recruits how to turn in their trays after each meal): "Bowls up, cups down, dress edge to my left!" He had kind of a country twang to it and after all these years, I can still sing it!

To this day, I am pleased that I am still in contact with one person from my Basic Training company. His name is Scott and he's from Iowa. His first comment to me in one of our early days of training was: "Who's this skinny, short shit?"

I had hoped to keep in touch with more of my company mates, and I did keep in touch with a few of them for a couple years. It would be interesting to know how many of them made the Navy a career. I would venture to guess that probably less than 10% might have stayed Navy. One of the things I was insistent on was making my fellow companymates sign the back pages of my journal. Its great to read their comments every once in awhile. Brings back so many good memories and helps remind me of certain personalities.

So...if anyone from C093 at RTC Orlando, Florida in 1991 happens to read this, drop me a line or post a comment to say "hi!" Happy 19th anniversary to this great rite of passage experience!

Celebreality Bites

On Sunday, curiosity got the best of me. As much as I despise Donald Trump (and the dead animal he calls his hair), I just had to see his latest installment of The Apprentice because of Cyndi Lauper, Sharon Osbourne, and the impeached former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. In fact, it was mostly because of Blagojevich that I tuned in. The man does not belong on a reality show in a desperate attempt to rehabilitate his image. He belongs in JAIL! It used to be where a politician considered doing any television to be beneath the dignity of the office. Then Nixon did Laugh-In. Clinton played his sax on Arsenio. Bush and Gore had separate dates with the Oprah Winfrey Show. John McCain wielded a light saber and compared himself to Luke Skywalker. And of course, President Barack Obama is considered a superstar who was compared to Paris Hilton by a jealous McCain. Disgraced former Congressman Tom DeLay showed his Texas two-step on Dancing With the Stars. Now we have Blagojevich, trying to charm his way into the Trump's good graces. What's next? John Edwards airing his pornographic video tape on the Playboy Channel?

It has been a weird month of TV. I was quite stunned that Madonna was on The Marriage Ref giving out marital advice. Madonna? The twice divorced cougar whose current beau is a 23 year old guy (born after she became famous in 1983)!!! Flashback to 1983...critics fell in love with Cyndi Lauper (she had the much better debut album) while believing that Madonna was a flash in the pan. Who knew the Material Boy Toy had the smarts to evolve and keep herself in the public eye? She's the master of reinvention, while Cyndi seems stuck in a time warp. However, based on my impression of Cyndi over the years and especially seeing her on Celebrity Apprentice, she seems genuinely nice. She's the epitome of a Bohemian chick and I was especially glad to see her defend friend Rosie O'Donnell to a nasty Trump (they're still feuding? Gosh, I forget what started it all). Its interesting to look at the trajectory of those two women who appeared on the music scene the same year. Now, they are both appearing on a "reality" show, though Madonna has been far more successful in music.

The problem I have with both The Celebrity Apprentice and The Marriage Ref is the level of nastiness. I don't think this is a good sign for our society. In fact, I think both shows reveal the decline of American civiliation. The four feuding couples presented on The Marriage Ref are purely for mass consumption. The guest panel of celebrity "judges" don't seem nearly as interested in solving the dispute as one-upping one another with funny quips. Despite the heavy advertising push during the Olympics, I believe this show has an extremely short surface life. I was bored after two couples' feuds were presented. May the show die a quick death! Madonna is not a credible person to judge anyone else's marital dispute (especially after wrecking A-Rod's marriage and moving on to cradle robbing).

The Celebrity Apprentice is far worse, though. It shows capitalism at its worst: cutthroat savagery. Trump divided the group into two teams: the men versus the women. They were each tasked with running two different diners in Manhattan during the lunch hour rush. The money was all for various non-profit organizations. Whoever raised the most would get the entire amount raised by both diners. There's nothing wrong with healthy competition, but when the losing team failed to raise nearly as much as the winning team, the Donald wanted a scapegoat to fire. The ladies were too nice, not wanting to put all the blame on someone. Because this show requires someone getting fired each week, though, someone had to take the fall. We saw the ugly side of Donald Trump and his cutthroat capitalistic style. After watching him in action, all I can say is that he is EVIL. I knew there was a reason why I never liked him. He has no compassion at all. It would suck to be one of his children. I don't like how he failed to give credit to the ladies for the work they did in raising money for charity. They wanted to make things affordable for real people to have a meal and actually meet famous people. The big donors likely have celebrity friends. Really...who has the money to pay $1,500 for a hamburger?!?

The most interesting aspect of the show was how Blagojevich comes across. He's clearly seen talking to customers at the diner about his personal woes and insisting on his innocence. He seems like a major ass. And a narcissistic one at that! When the Trumpster confronted him about talking to customers about his personal situation, Blagojevich actually tried to play it off. He's an unconvincing liar. He behaves like a boy who got his hand caught in the cookie jar. Listen, Blago...Joan Rivers' hamburger was cold because you were chatting up customers about your innocence. That's unprofessional. If anyone deserved the chopping block, its Blagojevich. However, I have a feeling that he might be on there for a longer duration simple for the sheer entertainment value. The longer he's on the show, the more nails that are driven into the coffin of his political career (he actually saw himself as a future presidential candidate!). I don't see what possessed him to think that being on a reality show would resuscitate his public image. Not going to happen. He's this season's Omarosa.

As I watched the show, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. This is exactly how our corporate capitalist economy operates. There's no compassion in our country anymore. The values of greed, endless competition (with the threat of being fired if you don't beat the other person), and constant schemes to fleece working class people of their money are values that I want no part of. Our economic system does not have to be this way. There are alternatives to capitalism that do not involve communism or socialism. The economic system I support would place a premium value on cooperation, innovation, ethical behaviour, sustainability, and improving the quality of life. Cutthroat capitalism hasn't gotten us anywhere. Does anyone really think America is better off in 2009 than it was in 2000? In the past decade, Americans pretty much got Enron'd!

What's even worse is seeing how many people who claim to be Christian advocating such a savage economic system. Its the result of our Cold War brainwashing that associated communism with atheism and capitalism with Christianity. Under the dualistic thinking encouraged by Christianity, most Americans believe wrongly that if you are not a capitalist, then you must be a communist. Take it from me, though. I reject both ideologies. What I want to see is a new ETHICONOMY emerge. There needs to be a financial incentive to encourage people to be cooperative, charitable and ethical. And yes, I think greed should be a capital offense. Its the only way to strike fear into the hearts of a cutthroat capitalist.

The Bruce Springsteen Eucharist

On Saturday evening, the local Trinity Episcopal Cathedral held a special "Bruce Springsteen Eucharist" (titled Sky of Mercy) to raise money for Trinity's hunger ministries. I have been wanting to attend a U2charist since I heard about them a couple years ago, so when I saw that a local church was offering one featuring Springsteen's music, I just had to go. This is the kind of innovative worship service that I love. Why can't my church do something like this? Its one of my ongoing frustrations (I'm learning that too many well-meaning church folks mostly talk about wanting young and middle aged adults to be involved in the life of the church, but when it comes to changing the format to appeal to our generation, they prefer tradition).

I've said this in a previous post and I'll say it again...the Community of Christ is in serious danger of losing a loyal fifth-generation member of the church if it does not do something to appeal to our generation. They've lost so many members already and are likely to after April's divisive World Conference (what I call "the gay conference" because most of the resolutions this time are about making the next step towards inclusion of sexual minorities in marriage and priesthood). I love the church and all the memories I have from over the years, but in my long-running "dark night of the soul" period, I realized that what I most crave is racial / ethnic diversity and being among people in my generation (those born between 1965 and 1990). I also learned, after getting my heart broken by no less than three ladies who are members of the church (I also broke the heart of one lady in the church, so I'm not innocent either), that if I seriously want to get married to a lady who shares my spiritual depth and interest, I really do have to go elsewhere to find her. I'm not going to find her in the Community of Christ.

To be fair, though, on Saturday morning, I attended the first hike of a hiking group from the Tuality Community of Christ congregation. I was the only one who showed up, besides the organizer, Jeff. I had met Jeff and his Japanese wife Janet (her American nickname) sometime last year and was glad to see them. We had a great time hiking from the Oregon Zoo all the way to OHSU to take the tram down to South Waterfront. It was several miles and several hours long hike and a great opportunity to get to know this couple (and their young children) better. They represent exactly what I'm looking for in a church community: diversity (through an interracial marriage). Unfortunately, there simply isn't enough diversity at Tuality or Portland Community of Christ congregations. Nor enough single people in my age group. Thus, I have decided to look into other churches, such as the Unitarian-Universalists, the Quakers, the Unity church, the Buddhists, the Hindus and possibly others. The main criteria is that none of these churches I'll visit in the coming months better knock another religion. I won't tolerate any smack talk from the pulpit. Besides, its a sign of an inferior religion which has to continually knock another religion during their worship service.

On Saturday afternoon, despite being tired from the hike, I headed to the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral for the Springsteen Eucharist. As soon as I walked into the sanctuary, I was awed by the massiveness of it. Okay, so it's not European-style massive, but for Portland, I'd say that it was pretty impressive for a cathedral. The light shining through the stained glass windows helped to create a surreal effect as I walked towards the front to sit in one of the pews. I was there at 4:30, as the paper recommended. By 5 p.m., the entire sanctuary filled to capacity. And people in my church have claimed that holding a church service at any other time other than Sunday morning would not get people in the door. Well, after what I saw on Saturday night, that excuse no longer washes with me. What were these several hundred people doing in church on a Saturday night? I certainly could have done other things with my time, but I made a point to attend. Trinity Episcopal Cathedral proves a church can hold event on a Saturday night and still fill a huge sanctuary (no Community of Christ church I've been to comes anywhere near the size of the sanctuary in Trinity Episcopal Cathedral).

The service was actually a full Eucharist (whatever that means!). A live band sang the prelude: "My City of Ruins." Between songs included segments of scripture verses or reading in unison (I actually dislike those). The next song was a bit irreverent, but I loved it: "Dancing in the Dark." It was especially interesting to see the guy sing the lines "I'm dyin' for some action...I need a love reaction, come on now baby gimme just one look." Do they know what Springsteen was singing about?!? That's pretty open minded of this church to sing those lines from that awesome song. Another great song was "The Streets of Philadelphia." The Reverend actually gave his sermon along the themes of that Oscar-winning song. He spoke about the prodigal son parable and what surprised me even more, he spoke about inclusion, not exclusion. I was shocked. I know nothing about the Episcopal Church, other than its a bit too formal for my tastes, but I thought it was more along the lines of Catholicism. Thus, I was shocked to see women serving communion and an altar girl. This is impressive. When I visit a church, I'm always concerned about the theology they preach. For example, the evangelical church my brother attends has a lot of people our age and great music to a live band, but come message time, its purely toxic (they spend more time condemning other religions than talking about what they offer to seekers).

Other songs sung were "Jesus Was an Only Son" (not sure if that's a Springsteen song, though), "Thunder Road", "If I Should Fall Behind", "My Father's House" and "The Rising." I was interested in how they did communion. I wasn't sure if I was going to partake of it, but I decided, "why not?" I thought it was going to take forever, but they have a fast moving system going. One lady gave me a round wafer, and another lady dunked it into the chalice of wine. And I was surprised that it was actual wine they used! I was really liking their communion at that point.

In the program bulletin, I noticed a few services this faith community offers: a discernment day for those needing special help discerning their life issues, and a labyrinth walk. They also offer meals for the homeless every Wednesday evening, though they said that anyone can have a free meal on them. They are also offering another U2charist in April, so I'll definitely be back. As I left, I thanked one of the ladies in the church garments for a great service. She replied, "I hope you'll visit us again." Well, perhaps. It was a pleasant surprise. I'll definitely attend the special eucharists (will an Enya one be in the works? I'd love to see that). However, truth be told, my church has spoiled me on its informalities. I doubt I'd ever feel at home in such a formal church as the Episcopal church. There is much to admire and I don't believe there is one true church. I just like seeing how other churches work and what they offer. I loved this service because its so different from my norm. But what I really want is "my norm" with more diversity.

I guess I'll be "dancing in the dark" until I find my community of progressives who share a similar worldview and appreciation for diversity. I sometimes feel like a prosciutto and brie baguette in a church full of balogna and Velvetta on Wonder bread. Or fried rice in a white rice church. Or jambalaya in a steak and potatoes church. Gosh, I'm hungry. Maybe its because I haven't been spiritual fed in a long time. The Springsteen Eucharist was a step in the right direction. It certainly ranks up there among the best church services I've ever attended.

Getting Into "The Green Zone"

Last Tuesday, a friend invited me to a special free screening of The Green Zone, the latest Hollywood film about our war in Iraq. The interesting thing about free movie passes is that you see an audience that is often not the kind you expect would gravitate to a film like this. This was one of those moments where I guessed that most were there to see it only because it was free. I had planned to see this film when it opened anyway, so the fact that a friend scored some free tickets was bonus.

Last year, when I found out that movie rights had been bought for the excellent book Imperial Life in the Emerald City, I was excited to see the film version of this readable book. I read it last year (April/May) and could not put the book down. It is perhaps the best book I've read about the Iraq War, covering the early phases when there was a transition between the State Department's Middle East experts to the Bush Administration's special viceroy leading the Coalition Provisional Authority. This book showed you nearly all aspects of life inside the Green Zone (a safe haven piece of the U.S. inside the hostile territory of the occupied city of Baghdad).

What I loved most about the book were the brief interlude "vignettes" in between the longer chapters. These vignettes covered interesting aspects of life for the Americans who inhabited the Green Zone. The three most memorable include a wedding between two American workers, another was about a group of Democrats who formed a "Donkeys in the Desert" group that had to meet in secret due to what they considered a hostile, pro-Bush regime environment, and the most interesting one was about how workers adopted stray kittens and had to hide them (not unlike Germans hiding Jewish people from the Nazis) once the CPA issued an extermination order for the purposes of "health reasons." I don't get why these American workers are not allowed to have a kitten in their trailers. Animals are proven to reduce stress in people, and with people being cooped up inside the Green Zone, they need every amount of normalcy they can achieve in a war zone.

If you read just one book about the Iraq War, I would highly recommend this one. Unfortunately, though, the movie is not actually "based on" the book, but rather, "inspired by" the book. That means a lot of creative license, which means an action-oriented film. That left little time for any of the memorable vignettes from the book (couldn't the director have at least put in the "extermination order" to show how ludicrously paranoid the CPA was? Instead, all we get is a brief glimpse of a "Donkeys in the Desert" poster on the wall). The movie bills itself as a conspiracy unraveling mystery, as one Army officer is fed up with risking the lives of his men to secure places that intelligence reports claimed to be hiding Weapons of Mass Destruction. This leads him to seek out the Iraqi leader who is responsible for misinforming the CIA.

For anyone who has followed the actual news, nothing in the movie comes as a surprise or a shock. What you get is action sequences with shaky camera footage (I'm getting tired of this "realism" in movies where they try to recreate a "you are there in the midst of it" atmosphere). There were moments when I wanted to reach onto the screen to shake Matt Damon's earnest Army Officer, and say: "Look dude, stop being a brainless sap! Don't be so shocked that you can't find WMDs. The whole premise for going to war was a lie...get over it!" I was never one of those people who believed that there were actual WMDs in Iraq...because the country had been under U.N. sanctions for nearly a dozen years, half the country was under a NATO "No Fly Zone" (the Kurdish north and Shia south), and U.N. weapons inspectors were constantly sent around to sights throughout the 1990s. Leave it to a political comedian to have the best intelligence on the matter! Bill Maher actually said on his show many times that Saddam struck him as the kind of guy who would lie about how big his...uh..."weapon" is, but when it came time to show proof, he would create a delaying tactic. In the aftermath of our trillion dollar war based on the premise of Saddam's WMD program, it turns out that Saddam wanted the world and his own people to believe he had WMDs because he feared for his own life and lock on power if his enemies realized he was more like the Wizard of Oz (a powerless fraud, a coward hiding behind smoke and mirrors).



The Green Zone is a good film, but not The Hurt Locker great. I personally would have perferred a film that was actually based on the book...featuring more of the interesting details the author covered: such as a fresh out of college Young Republican who was assigned the task of developing Iraq's transportation infrastructure. What did this young, fresh faced college kid do? Download a copy of Maryland's traffic laws! Another was assigned the task of setting up the Baghdad Stock Exchange. He had no experience on Wall Street and kept wanting all the high tech equipment first, while the Iraqis were used to using chalk and blackboards for their stock market. Its absurdities like that which would illustrate just how badly managed the CPA was in the early days of the occupation. The turf wars between the hardcore Bush loyalists and the State Department veterans with actual Middle East experience were the meat of the book. We get none of that. All viewers are left with is one fictional Army officer's wild goose chase through the streets of Baghdad to get to the Iraqi general first before the U.S. special forces do. Yawn. Been there, done that.

Music Video Monday: Duran Duran

In honour of today's New Moon, there was only one logical choice for this week's music video selection: Duran Duran's "New Moon on Monday." Its from their album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, which came out in 1983 or 1984. It was one of my favourites of the time. In fact, I was even inspired to write a "novel" about Duran Duran featuring their song titles as chapter titles. I only wrote one chapter, but I think I mostly wrote it to impress a certain girl in my sixth grade class who loved Duran Duran. She was indeed impressed with it and encouraged me to complete it, but I never did.

Duran Duran was one of my favourite bands in the 1980s. They scored an impressive string of hits..."Hungry Like the Wolf", "Rio", "Union of the Snake", "The Reflex" (probably my second favourite of theirs), "Wild Boys", "A View to a Kill" (by far my favourite of theirs, which is also the best James Bond theme song and their biggest hit), "Notorious", "Skin Trade", "I Don't Want Your Love", "Ordinary World," "I Come Undone", and of course..."Bedroom Toys" (from their excellent 2004 comeback album, Astronaut).