The Spiritual Look

Which personal grooming style conveys the most spiritual authority: (A) the Seventies clown hair or (B) the bald and virile?

I think we both know the answer. It depends on the enlightenment fashion dictates of the decade you live in. In the 70s, overly-styled clown hair was where "it" was at. The word "it" in Sanskrit translates to: "the ineffable 'it-ness': i.e., there 'it' goes, here 'it' comes again". Right now, however, if you want to visually communicate that you've got "it" in terms of spiritual book author cred, then don't be foolish. The path is clear. The way to the mountain top and an Oprah endorsement is to shave your head.

I'm not being funny here. I mean shave your head. Now!!!

Drugs and Lots of 'em too

I seem to have a fairly low tolerance for most mind-altering substances, except John Denver records and Hostess Cakes. That's probably been a good thing, because otherwise I'm sure I'd be eating sandwiches of LSD all day long.

While I've never been a huge fan of Dr. Timothy Leary, I do have one favorite quote from him that goes: "advanced age is like an altered state of consciousness". I think that's about the most positive spin on aging I've ever heard, which leaves me with that to look forward to.

Meanwhile, I've been reading about alternative attitudes on drugs, without actually taking any. LA tap water is mind bending enough.

I've also been watching a very interesting hippie chick on YouTube. She's got a mess o' videos about her experience with almost every conceivable "Entheogenic" drug, laying it out in the most wispy "everything's good and everything's OK"-kinda' way. [Some things are not good: Namely, I do feel bad for the toad in the video.]

Ray Campi Traffic School

I saw this fellow...

Ray Campi

playing at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach last Saturday night. While I can't claim to be Mr. Rockabilly Aficionado-Head, I had heard of Campi's legend as a performer and it was a worthwhile show. Between numbers Mr. Campi would digress, indulging in monologues about his musical travels or whatever random thing entered his head.

Then for no reason at all, Ray started issuing pointers about "rules of the road", "pedestrian right-of-way", "CHP jurisdiction", etc. We're sitting there in the audience looking at each other asking, "What the hell is he talking about?!!!" I then realized that this was not an everyday performance. This was a Ray Campi Traffic School! Not only did I leave with my certificate but I learned that fines for rolling stops in California are going to be jacked up considerably due to the State's financial crises. This news was made much easier to digest when offered with a tantalizing mix of Bill Haley and Gene Vincent covers. Also good to know that our State Government loves us enough to protect us with tough love measures and to crown Mr. Campi as the ambassador of safe driving.

Sublimate Your Libido!

Today's tip: go to an electronic graphic arts convention like I did this last Tuesday. It's still up and running, so don't miss out. It's Siggraph 2008 at the LA Convention Center, no less. You can mill around computer software vendors, 3d animation demonstrations, drive a virtual race car, and eat virtual food at inflated prices. But the main thing is that your libido will be completely sublimated, as you find yourself immersed in all the latest technology.

Hold the presses! While browsing the internet for an accompanying image to steal for this post, I found the above shot. I obviously went to the wrong Siggraph convention. Last year in San Diego was evidently a whole different scene but I still insist that HAS to be some sort of robot cyber dancer.

Life in Vagaries Comic #1

click image for mucho-bigg-o.

Life in Vagaries

A frequent sentiment as of late...