I keep meaning to do an audio version of my second novel, Understanding Ken, but that plan keeps getting pushed down lower on my to-do list. And trying to do it myself is a little intimidating. The thought of reading out loud on my own in the voice of a ten-year-old for eight hours, and recording said reading, and not making any mistakes or stumbles (or even fixing the mistakes), is slightly daunting.

In the meantime, someone was talking about the book today, and this is a recording of a very small segment of the book (6 minutes) that I did enjoy doing—with a crowd on hand (much easier). It describes, from a ten-year-old’s point of view, the difference between America and Canada in 1973. Undoubtedly, statistically, that difference has decreased over the last 37 years, as fast food rapidly colonized Canada, too. Anyway, here it is, preferably (but not necessarily) to be heard with headphones on if you’re on your own.

Would it make a good audio book? And do people actually buy audio books? There is a third reason for me to do this recording, but I’ll talk about that another time.

Here’s the piece.

Lots of love and joy and humour,

Pete

When I was at the HIV/AIDS Conference in Vienna in late July, I got to interview several passionate people, both from inside and outside Russia, with firsthand knowledge of the draconian drug laws in that country. These policies include the illegality of methadone, a staple in EVERY western country that doesn’t have soaring HIV rated among injection drug users. Russia’s HIV rates among drug users are catastrophic. This is a short and thought provoking piece, once again, is from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union:

Whatever you do unto the littlest of mine, you do unto me, Christ once said. Plus the Golden Rule and countless other obvious kindnesses.

Here’s to compassion, kindness, pragmatism and intelligence,

Pete

I can’t say for sure why I think the War on Drugs is so important, compelling, distressing, and difficult. It just brings together so many questions of civil liberties, human rights, ideology, hypocrisy, and finally, asking the question: why do we say X is alright and Y is not? X being, say, alcohol, which kills a lot of people, and Y, being, say, marijuana. This is so bizarre—though anything but surprising in the material world.

And here’s Sweden (another very informative film from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union), with bright people seeing the topics, the debate, as always, in such contrasting ways.

The question is: is a vice a crime? The question is: how much should the state impose what an individual imbibes or ingests? The question is: given the profits of the drug trade (to paraphrase Milton Friedman), can it ever be stopped by criminalization and enforcement? (No, to paraphrase Milton Friedman). The question is: given the brutal effects of tobacco and alcohol, and their simultaneous legality within a given state, will said state and enforcement therein ever have credibility given the illegalities of so many other drugs, some indeed more dangerous, but some much less dangerous?

“The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.”
—Albert Einstein, “My First Impression of the U.S.A.”, 1921

And the beat goes on, in our hearts and on the street.

Love a lot,

Pete

I am responsible for nothing if not my own mood. When all else fails, or succeeds, my mood is my choice. And in our mood, everything is discovered, or ignored. Own your mood.

That’s it. And now…a smile…

Pete xo

“Man cannot live without a continuous confidence in something indestructible within himself”
—Franz Kafka

And…

“I believe in the immortality of the soul, because I have within me immortal longings.”
—Helen Keller

Ernest Becker was a cultural anthropologist who wrote about death (and won the Pulitzer Prize posthumously for The Denial of Death), and how our fear of it prevents any significant self-realization. I’m paraphrasing, and in fact don’t know his work very well. But I love these big original thinkers (I was reading about Wilhelm Reich the other day, for crying out loud. His book, with the impossibly catchy-title, The Function of the Orgasm, was on my dad’s bookshelf when I was a prepubescent kid, and always intrigued me. Vhat eez dis ting called orgazm, yah? I think I read it, too, sometime around also reading Arthur Janov’s Primal Scream). Anyway, Becker was very interesting, and sadly and ironically, died far too young, at the age of 49, in 1974, in Vancouver—my home town.

Here’s the trailer of a film based on his work, Flight From Death: The Quest for Immortality:

The video footage at the top of the trailer of the baby in the womb is stunning. Also, to say we “emerge from nothing” has no necessary basis in truth. After all, something cannot, according to science, come from nothing. Except money. No, that comes from the Federal Reserve.

And here’s a brief, wonderful moment of Sam Keen remembering Becker.

And here’s to life, in all its mysterious splendour. Oh, and don’t worry, be happy.

Pete xo

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successfull personality and duplicate it.
—Bruce Lee

TAKY KIMURA

Taky Kimura was one of Bruce Lee’s first students. Kimura holds a 5th rank in Jun Fan Gung Fu (literally Bruce Lee’s Kung Fu) and was given permission by Bruce to continue the teaching. I also recall reading (or maybe hearing) that Taky was interned as a Japanese American during World War II, and by his own admission this experienced was emotionally shattering. Kimura said that his affiliation with Bruce Lee, who so stood up for both his own Chinese and American roots, and the right to teach Americans Gung Fu and so on, is who turned around Kimura’s shattered confidence, and even spirit—and, of course, body.

PAT YOSHITSUGU MUROSAKO

A couple of weekends ago, while reading the Warrior’s Path, I read about Pat Yoshitsugu Murosako, who was born in Fresno, California in 1921. Today a seventh dan (black belt level) in kendo—”the way of the sword” and a sixth dan (black belt level) in iaido—”the way of the drawing sword”—he too faced the intense racism of the time, and explained it this way:

“I was thrown into jail so many times because of my color: Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Wisconsin…I couldn’t get a haircut at any barbershop, couldn’t go to a restaurant….It was like I had leprosy. I was probably the loneliest person in the whole damn world. It was a nightmare—being alone with nobody to talk to. I mostly lived in a dream, to get away. There were a few young boys that invited me to their place, but only so long as no other friends came. They were afraid. Even after I came out of the army, there was still prejudice—others just didn’t want to associate with me.

What did I have to do to prove I was an American? Look at all the people like me, my age, that died in Europe and in the Philippines and in Borneo.”

Strange times, indeed.

Murosako is now 88, and after a massive aneurism, evidently, still trains in kendo.

DAVID SUZUKI

Come to think of it, just the other day I also heard famed Canadian environmentalist talk about similar conditions in Canada during World War II, in these clips from an upcoming National Film Board film about his life.

History. Herstory. Yesterday. Tomorrow. Today. Be vigilant. Be kind.

pete

“In the martial arts, in budo, we search for a truth, a spirit, a mental attitude.”
—Mitsusuke Harada
Karate-do

I’ve been reading The Warrior’s Path: Wisdom from Contemporary Martial Arts Masters—interviews with old school martial artists from Japan or of Japanese descent—and thinking about the ‘nature’ of MMA—the nature of which I actually know very little. I am sure one almost has to do it, or interview intensely, to know much of its nature.

Anyway, compare the two in your own head with this interesting comment from Shozo Awazu, a
Japanese Judo master who taught in France, talking about the way of the warrior:

“Finally, budo [literally, the martial way/the way of the warrior] is the difference between being quiet and not being quiet. The whole idea of budo is a big problem with Westerners. You need to know the culture of ancient Japan to understand it. Historically, during the times of the samurai, budo was very important. Perhaps, as with competition today, it’s not whether you win or lose, because in samurai times a battle may have been won one day but lost another. So you can’t be interested in that, but just in the fact of being quieter than your opponent. If you are quiet, you can see things very naturally and choose any strategy with serenity. This represents the path for the judo-ka. There is no end, no aim, no pinnacle to achieve. You can continue forever.”

Can this “no end, no aim, no pinnacle to achieve” happen in an octagon cage? Does it really happen in traditional martial arts? With a decent background in Eastern philosophy, The language makes sense to me, but from the outside looking in, what do I need to understand?

And another comment from Tatsuo Suzuki, Karate-do master—“the way of the empty hand”:

“Nowadays, in many countries, karate is only practiced for fighting. This is wrong. People just want to fight in contests—they’re all about thirty years old. Before thirty years of age, a human being has lots of stamina. But after thirty, every year stamina goes down. But if the mental training is included with physical training—if the spirit is trained—any age can improve. This is important. But it’s not done and it’s absolutely wrong. Karate is a martial art, not a sport. This is important.”

The question to me is, in a sense, what does it mean that the toughest fighters in the world make a living in a cage, entertaining the masses? Is this unsurprising, disturbing, simply compelling, or positive that the toughest fighters in the world can make a living? Is it an irony, given that other warriors can drop bombs on countries thousands of miles away?

I really don’t know, but I do know big love for more and more beings is the hardest path of all. Ah to be human…

Pete xo

Can we love more? And then more? And wider? Who is your brother and who is your sister? Is the biosphere or is your condo truly home? I don’t know, and I’m sure the answer for everyone lands in one’s own unique pocket on an extraordinary spectrum (assuming spectrums have pockets). Either way, here’s a hopeful speech from Jeremy Rifkin. Basically, we’re simultaneously incredibly close and yet so far from a sufficiently kinder world; a lot of evolution stands in the way, and a lot of evolution gives us a chance. And then there are all the juiciest of mysteries, like love and beauty and potential and smiles and wherever they come from, just waiting to be more deeply celebrated…

Anyway, love more, my friends.

Pete

Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind, once said, “I believe in the immortality of the soul because I have within me immortal longings.”

This opinion, in my opinion, should not be shuttled away so quickly as wishful thinking, although wishful thinking it is. But immortality aside, a recent study (which I’m sure will be replaced soon) has said (more or less) that lifestyle seems to “play the lead role” for living to 85, but genetics determines living to a hundred. And the article says that DNA testing can now “predict—with 77 percent accuracy—those biologically built to live beyond a century.” My Nana lived to a hundred-and-one, and her husband (my Grandfather, obviously), to 34, so I’m a toss up.

An excerpt:

Lifestyle choices seem to play the lead role in determining who will make it to age 85. But living beyond that age, a trait that runs in families, seems to depend largely on genes, and researchers worry the news will make some people reckless with their health.

Like we could get more reckless, with the processed/fast-food, total crap we already eat, and eat way too much of? And what can be said environmentally? Nonetheless, love remains, shining, shining, and that’s a beautiful thing.

The study suggests that many more of us than generally thought—an estimated 15 per cent—have the genetic potential to live a very long life. But things like accidents, wars and bad habits combine to keep the numbers of centenarians extremely low. Only one in 6,000 people reaches 100 in industrialized countries. Only one in seven million survive beyond 110, achieving so-called “super-centenarian” status.

I would say war is a bad habit.

The full article, in all its temporary glory, having little or no effect, and soon to be replaced, is here.

Here’s to happy genes,

Pete

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.
—Albert Einstein

Love is metaphysical gravity.
—R. Buckminster Fuller

I was thinking about how miraculous it is that, for so many humans, the most enjoyable experience is, undeniably, to love others, and to feel loved. Of all things. It isn’t enough that for some reason we have arisen here as individuals—utterly inexplicable and confounding; that in a universe supposedly ever-expanding, utterly and consistently moving towards greater entropy, all of this organization exists—us, pants, plants, a really good meal. That, my dear friends, makes no sense whatsoever. And on top of all that, love—this binding, freeing, tightening, expanding dance of emotion, that in its purest form, is remarkably unlimited and so unselfish (in my opinion).

I was talking to a dear friend of mine yesterday, who recently lost his beautiful wife to cancer, and he said, paraphrasing, ‘Pete, you can’t imagine how precious those moments are: a sense of home, of love, a glance, a word. They are literally a miracle, and we don’t even know it.’

I certainly can’t imagine those emotions as felt through my dear friend’s heart, but I know how precious and miraculous those moments are in my life. Just to soften and love a little bit more, to reach out a little bit more, to find that inner smile and give a little bit more. Love is a many splendored thing, indeed, and this remarkable experience called human life ceases to have meaning (for most of us) without it. And yet life existed without human involvement, supposedly, for all but the last, say, 200,000 years. So how did love exist before this? And did it? And if so, where did it come from, and what does it look like in different forms? Or is the form the same, just seen through different eyes?

I don’t know.

Ah, love, you unquantifiable, unmeasurable miracle. I love you.

Here’s to love,

Pete