The Search for Comfort is Not the Same as the Search for God

Hellbound Alleee of Mondo Diablo fame gets it right on the nose.  There is no rhyme nor reason to the world and this life.  There doesn’t have to be.  But that is not the subject of this post.   I am responding to her episode number 195 of Mondo Diablo where a believer says that the number one question of non-believers is “Why is there evil if there is a god?”.  Of course it’s the number one question that non-believers asks because the answer, that normally involves how god gave us free will to test our faith, is incomprehensible. It simply does not answer the question.   This whole business of free will and its relationship to evil begs the question of god,  as Alleee points out in Mondo Diablo #195 :    “What, indeed, do we need god for if we have free will”, she asks.  What exactly would be the point?

The whole question of a free will and the fallen world is very foreign to all other non-christian religions because no other religion has this concept of original sin.   Why bother to create an Adam and Eve if they’re going to disappoint you and once they’ve disappointed you why not just destroy the world and all its sinners and start over?  Oh sorry.  Is that what is supposed to happen with the coming of the apocalypse and Armageddon?  One might argue that the ways of the superior being are not understandable to us.   Then why bother at all believing?  If his ways are not penetrable, then why should I waste one moment on it?  I’ll tell you why:  because there are only about 1.5 billion of us in the world who are self described non-believers in a god and the rest believe in one (or many), much to the  puzzlement of non-believers, who spend a considerable amount of time defending ourselves against this offense to our sensibilities called “belief in a god and all that it means.”

Alleee hits another one right on the sweet spot in that episode.  I have to say it again because I love it:  “The search for comfort is not the same as the search for god.”   These are indeed and importantly two very different things.  A god is a very terrible thing to believe in.  A “bubba meisis” as my mother would say, “an old wive’s tale”, a scary monster thing to tell your children to keep them in line.   And then we tell them that it’s ok to believe in the scary monster because they’ll be rewarded when they die by some other fabrication called heaven or resurrection or rebirth as a brahmin, or with virgins in an afterlife that they can rape with abandon.

On the other hand I would like very much to remind Alleee how she got here -  Her wonderful show Mondo Diablo, that I have been enjoying for 4 years wouldn’t even exist if it were not for someone’s belief in god.  How’s that for a slap in the face?

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 175 – Wither Special K Goest So Shall We Wouldest Goest or Something Like That

Globe Thistle is very soft

Hop on the Magic Bus.  Naw – it’s just part two at the Market.   More vegetables and items of curiosity.   Fantastical clocks at Arts on King,  a visit to the bank, and we discover that Charlie is a master at parallel parking.

A clock adorned with a feather at "Arts on King" Toronto

Listen to it here:

• HotFRM 175 (20Mb)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 174 – It’s About Doing It At All

Parallel parking is about doing it at all.   Bring your own bags to the store or it will cost you 5 cents a pop in Toronto since June 1 and Charlie needs to buy one for the steak she will be making for herself.  Charlie is a slow poke like we are.

All the gay people are out with their pink bags and bicycles.  Pigs are hanging in the window. Special K reveals a TTC Scam Story.  Famous 70s Rock Stars mentioned: Alice Cooper

Listen to the show at

• HotFRM 174 (23Mb)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 173 – Scarborough Dude Zen Master

International Space Station (Photo from New York Times Nasa/Reuters)

On this, the summer of the 40^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing,  Special K and I head outside the house one late evening to catch a glimpse of the space station making its way round the earth.  We are surprised by its speed, size, colour and certainly by the fact that we are actually able to view it.   We have less than five minutes to watch it pass overhead.

Scarborough Dude (Photo by Ninja)

On the first morning of Podcasters Across Borders in June, the Dude was called up for the first jolt session of the conference. This session is meant to be exactly five minutes and is intended to stimulate the mind and conversation during the break before the next longer scheduled session.  True to form The Dude expressed himself in his characteristic stream of consciousness way when the alarm sounded ending his five minutes.   We took pity on him however and gave him a precious few more moments to read a dude original poem –  irreverent yet moving.  By the way the Dude is completely NSFW : that is:  not safe for work.  You have been warned (audio of the Dude’s jolt courtesy of Whitney Hoffman).

Listen to it at

• HotFRM 173 – The Dude – Zen Master (18Mb)

Mr. Scary Corn Nuts

I just need to understand what has happened to people’s social skills.

On Friday night Special K and I went to see a film and were amazed to be sitting beside a rather large-ish fellow who pulled out a deli-tub of corn nuts before the movie started and began to eat them. He dug his hand into the tub each time, scooping out a handful of nuts and using his fist as a funnel, closed his eyes and poured them into his upturned mouth.  This prelude was followed by fierce crunching noises as he chewed  while the rest of the audience around him looked on in a mixture of amusement, fascination, horror and derision.

Do you have any idea how a corn nut crunch sounds in a darkened quiet theatre?  He proceeded to eat the entire tub without regard for any of the other members of the audience.  Several people moved away in disgust, others were looking back at him or over at him and yet, the fellow remained oblivious and non-plussed. When he finally finished The Tub, Special K said, “Thank god it’s over”. “Oh it’s not over. Not by a long shot. I think that bag there with him is full of food.”  I don’t know if he got the message, but he was fairly silent throughout the film except that he shifted around noisily and pulled out several plastic bottles of water which he held above his head and drizzled into his throat.

I think these people believe it is actually ok to behave as though they are alone in their living rooms.

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 170 – Charlie Is Never Boring

Off to the Fromagerie for all types and ages of cheeses.  It’s our quarterly trip to the St. Lawrence Market.   Charlie is late, but when she does catch up to us, she brings along the specs for several laptops.  We invite her over to our place only to discover she’s going to bring her laundry with.   We discuss the number of expletives in the film In Bruges and Charlie informs us that Belgium is the Newfoundland of Europe.  Who knew?  Onions, Hot Cross Buns and how much weight Ninja and Special K are putting on.  Toothpicks and tear saving kitchen gadgets like onion goggles. Wind up bunnies and high bouncing balls that do not bounce. Ninja startles small children again and Charlie buys more potatoes.  Finally, Ninja is duly impressed by the Mulholland Drive California mandarin oranges.

• HotFRM 170 – Charlie is Never Boring (25Mbs)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 169 – Mashed Potatoes Without the Gravy

Mashed Potatoes (No Gravy)

Billy Bob Thorton acted like a petulant, spoiled child on April 8 during a CBC interview with Jian Ghomeshi to promote his new band and musical venture the Boxmasters. Or is that the Mixmasters?   Boxmatches?  Boxcutters? I don’t know.  In any case,   for whatever reason,  Thorton seemed to be overestimating his importance and talent in the matter.  I think that he fancied that he was punishing someone by checking out of the interview.  It has been a long time since I have had the misfortune to witness such arrogant self-importance.  If you haven’t seen or listened to this insulting train wreck of unfathomable immaturity, you can catch it on at this youtube link: Jian Ghomeshi interview with Billy Bob Thorton.   Special K and I deconstruct his behaviour and then move on to discuss two movies about political figures.   It’s been 30 years since the White Night Riots after the city politican and gay activist Harvey Milk was murdered by Dan White.  We talk about the movie and how we feel about what happened during that time in gay history.  We move on to explore our reaction to a movie very difficult to make since it focused completely and solely on a conversation and a very difficult one at that.  We discuss the portrayal of David Frost and Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon.

And finally I give you my first and original mashup of Billy Bob Thorton’s most annoying utterances from his April 8th excuse of an interview on CBC radio.

Harvey Milk - Gay Pride 1978 - Photo by Terry Schmitt

Listen to the show

• HotFRM 169 Mashed Potatoes Without the Gravy (24.7 mb)

What Can Twitter Teach Me?

Traditional media has discovered Twitter.   So what?   As Jay Moonah tells us in his recent podcast, and here I am paraphrasing him according to my own interpretation, Twitter takes committment.   I don’t care if you are Oprah or Ashton or Ellen.  Are you willing to engage or just exploit the tool for what you think is short term gain?   And then once you’ve stepped on the track and discovered that it’s a long distance run, do you have the time or energy to make it worth the while for yourself and the twitter communities you are now part of?  I didn’t think so.  Because, if you agree with Jay, you have to be an electronic media junkie.  You have to spend the time learning how to speak in 140 character chunks and still have meaningful discourse.  You have to be willing to explore the new community and determine what value it has for you and others.   You have to know what you want to accomplish, like Yoko Ono seems to.   There is a lot of give and take in Twitter conversations.   And a certain  lightness of being. Depending on how many tweeters you follow, and how often you look at your tweets, you could have an overwhelming number of separate conversations and tweets to take in.  This can be a daunting proposition to some.

The first time I received more than 200 tweets between tweet sessions, I panicked.  How was I ever going to keep up?  If I didn’t find a solution fast,  I knew that I would become a twitter casuality in no time.  There is no way I can devote the same time to twitter discourse as I do to other things in my life.   I panicked publicly with a tweet to that effect.  To which kaymatthews responded with:

11:38 PM Mar 15th from web in reply to ninja_hotfrm

kaymatthews @ninja_hotfrm

Twitter is ephemeral. Just be in the moment (oo….twitterzen….)

Most excellent advice.  If I want to get the most from Twitter then I had better not treat it so seriously and really that is what Twitter became for me.  A fun way to engage in repartee, gay and otherwise.  I get to react to whatever I want at whatever point I enter the discussion.   Or I can ignore every tweet and push information that I think my twitter community might be interested in.  Or hell.  Just push out something that interests only me.

I’ll tell you something else I have noticed.   I have observed from my year and a half of being involved in Twitter that it is impossible to sustain a flame war.   Although it may seem easier to say sarcastic and mean things in 140 characters it is even harder to keep it up.  Perhaps that is because it takes a lot of energy to stay angry.  Angry people usually need a lot of space to build and maintain their justification for being angry.  And furthermore if you persist, I have the power to unfollow and block you.

Because I know I am dropping into something already and always in progress it is vitally important that if my comments lack social import, then at least let me be saying something to improve or brighten both of our days.  Of course this is only one tweeter’s story.  Some tweeters have a daily routine.  They greet us all every morning with a hale and hardy “top of the morning to you”, followed by the ingredients of their muesli.  Then many hours later they let us know they are turning in with a “night twittersphere”.  As a ninja, I prefer to drop in unannounced and leave just as quietly and unobstrusively having left my mark.   Everyone has their own particular style. I often have to remember that some people and organizations are actually using it to communicate their cause or product to what they hope is a wide audience that can in turn influence others.

Given all these factors, what can Twitter teach me?   I think it has taught me that, unlike e-mail, there is an implicit agreement that reading tone, especially a negative one, into a tweet, is a recipe for conversational disaster.  An open mind is a must for tweeting.  If we don’t understand each other that’s ok.  Move on.  It’s a tweet, not a relationship.  And that open mind also means I will expose myself, if I am lucky, to someone else’s experience that is different from mine.  And perhaps a way of looking at something I did not consider before.   I don’t have to be committed to meaningful discourse.  I can just have fun.  You know, for the long haul.

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 166 – Earth Hour Toronto 2009

People: It’s time to take down your Christmas lights.  C’mon it’s spring.   Ninja, Special K and Summer take a walk to the park to celebrate Earth Hour 2009.   Among the subjects discussed are dollar store lava lamps and flashlights, pickpockets and purse snatchers, girls rawk and trees that are pruned too much.  Famous celebrities mentioned: Lindsay, Britney.  Pests mentioned: porcupines, skunks, raccoons, sloth, carpenter ants. Movies mentioned: Over the Hedge, Doubt, Aliens vs. Monsters, Coraline.

Listen to the show :

• HotFRM 166 – Earth Hour Toronto 2009 - (29Mbs)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 165 – Snow Monkeys and Snow Shoes

Blue Mountain Snow Trail (c) The Wryit Group

On the Snowshoe trails with Special K and Ninja.   There’s porcupines in them there hills.  They sit searching for serenity  in a steaming hot outdoor pool in subzero temperatures.   Special K promises to take pictures of Ninja if the podcast is turned off.  Ninja follows the winter stream instead.

Baraka - Snow Monkey (Film Still)

• HotFRM 165 Snow Monkeys and Snow Shoes (10.4 MB)

Who Mourns the Press?

The Writing Is On The Wall

Not me.

Newsflash: This particular revolution has been going on since 1970. Have we only just noticed that the computer changed the way we communicate and associate?  Writers have been blogging all our lives. It’s just a different presentation. Take all the technology away from me and I’ll get my message out. I promise. I’ll scratch it on the wall.

No.  The revolution has been going on forever.  How old do you think Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park is?

Ninja’s Inner Kitchen

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 163 – So Much Mustard. So Little Time

Chinese Eggtarts - A Favourite All Year Round

Valentine’s day mustard. Charlie meets or rather almost misses Special K and Ninja at the market for some breakfast and shopping. Special K shares a close call with mushy peas. Small children are fascinated by Ninja and it may be the most popular she has ever been on Valentine’s Day.

Links: Ontario Canada’s Family Day, Habitat for Humanity, J.S.Bach, peas on a bun, Sudoku, Black Harp

Strong Medicine

• HotFRM 163 – So Much Mustard – 14.4MB

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 161 – Coffee and Crystals

Ninja and Special K attempt to grow crystals in their science laboratory.  Alchemy will never be the same.  Ninja figures the whole experiment will be as successful as growing grass on a chia pet or raising sea monkeys.  She is pleasantly surprised by the results.

Ninja and Special K’s Crystal Experiment (2009) (Photo by Ninja)

“I love coffee. I love tea…” Special K is finally given license to discuss one of her favourite topics:  the Java and the best places in the world to find it.  Join us for an exploration of the cuppa.   Visit the Delocator for independent coffee shops in Britain, Canada and the U.S.

Cafe Doutor in the Ginza, Tokyo, Japan (2007) (Photo by Ninja)

• 161HotFRM Coffee and Crystals  (22.1 MB)

Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 152 – Ninja Gets Really Lost This Time

Whack-a-Mole – A Carnival Favourite

I have no idea where I am. I hope I’m over here. More nonsensical audio from Ninja wondering why she goes to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) every year where it’s hot and too many people. Too many people. Did I say too many people? We give it up for Marty on the trampoline, eat a Philly cheesesteak at the Schwarzwaldhaus (Black Forest Inn) and sample the Tibetan singing bowls.

Tibetan Singing Bowl

• 152hotfrmigetreallylost · 19.68 MB

Happiness? I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Happiness

I left a comment on Leesa Barnes blog : http://www.leesabarnes.com/happiness-is-a-choice-not-an-emotion/ after she called for all of us to write about happiness.  Happiness is completely overrated.  Don’t you think?  It’s a scam – it’s something the priests and rabbis and American revolutionaries say you should pursue at all costs. Why?  Why can’t I be miserable?  I love my misery. I love my pain. 

Yeah well this is what I wrote:

“Three percent of the world’s population (check snopes and wikipedia – do not trust ninja) are naturally happy. Money or good health apparently have nothing to do with it. Just gobs and gobs of serotonin jumping from neuron to neuron I imagine. For the rest of us happiness is choice. And for everything else – of course – there’s mastercard.

Not to diminish any of the other comments, but we women are famous for believing that doing for others makes us happy – that going within and finding our inner strength and loving ourselves are the keys. The men of the species don’t have to bother with all that because, at any age, a red sports car and a looker on their arm is sufficient to make them happy. They really know how to live in the moment don’t they? (at least 3% of them anyway). I kind of like being a curmudgeon – that’s what makes me happy.”

Leesa made me happy tonight because she gave me this opportunity to gush about my despair.

A Trip to the Opera

Special K and I just got back from the Opera. Here was the story. Boy meets abused Girl. Boy marries abused Girl. Boy talks up how wonderful his Half-brother is. Half-brother meets abused girl. Instant fireworks. Half-brother makes love to abused Girl’s hair. Boy finds out about the hair fetish. Boy pulls abused Girl’s hair. Boy kills Half-brother in a jealous rage. Abused Girl dies of abuse. Everyone’s life is ruined.

What Dr. McCoy Is Not

This graph is my own creation. See lots of others at GraphJam.